


MR & SH Oneshot Collection

by JemTheKingOfSass



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, One Shot Collection, Prompt Fill, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-05-01 09:40:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14517690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JemTheKingOfSass/pseuds/JemTheKingOfSass
Summary: These were just lazy fun writing exercises to clear my head, reacquaint myself with MR, and gain experience with SH's tone. After prompt fill #7, I decided to post them. I'llprobablyadd to this at some point. The chapters are unrelated and posted in the order written. Both pairings are always implied. Nothing here has been edited beyond a cursory glance for egregious errors.





	1. Long Distance Love Poems (MR)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [maybeillride](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maybeillride/gifts), [songbird97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/songbird97/gifts), [rinthegreat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinthegreat/gifts).



> I've loved MR a long time, only recently became converted to SH. Neither pairing has enough content, so while suffering from brain burn-out from a fantasy AU I wrote, I filled prompts for MR/SH. 
> 
> I've gifted this to 3 lovely writers who, through the quality of their writing for (and engaging in discourse with me regarding) these pairings, totally sold me on the wonder that is SH. I ship it! **Ladies, there's no obligation to read or comment on any of these!** This is just a thank you.
> 
>  
> 
> ~~Teresa if you read any of the MR I'll name my next beer _Thirsty O'Nanase Freestyle Lager_ or _Horny Haru's Dolphin Ale_ or something in your honor.~~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PROMPT: person A wakes person B for company to eat their breakfast  
> 

 

**

 

* _ding ding_ *

Makoto opens his eyes to the sound of his boyfriend attempting to get his attention. Some couples wake each other up with soft kisses, others by drawing the blinds to let early morning light into the bedroom. Haru wakes Sousuke by brewing him the imported Colombian coffee that Rin got him hooked on, though Haru drinks nothing but mugicha. On the rare day that Makoto wakes up in Rin’s bed, he likes to roll over and back himself up until he is the little spoon nestled in the redhead’s arms, stealing five minutes of snuggling before his alarm goes off. On the more typical day, at least recently, Rin wakes Makoto with a text.

 

Makoto brings his phone to life with his thumb, excited to see the words Rin has sent. Every morning is a different quote about love, Rin having decided long ago that other people put things into words better than he could ever hope to. Rin even had Haru compose a short love poem for him once, when they were at the last World Championships followed directly by a team-building retreat and were gone for over two weeks. Haru had sent his poem to Sousuke as well since that was who he was truly writing the poem for. To the best of Makoto’s knowledge, Sousuke still has not let Rin live that down. 

 

 **Rin:** good morning Mako!  <3

 **Rin:**  
_Let me confess that we two must be twain,  
Although our undivided loves are one:_

_In our two loves there is but one respect,  
Though in our lives a separable spite,_

_Which, though it alter not love’s sole effect,  
Yet doth it steal sweet hours from love’s delight._

**Rin:** excerpts from Sonnet 36 (Shakespeare)

 **Me:** (｡♥‿♥｡)

 **Me:** You know I don’t know how to Bard.

 **Rin:** aren’t you a teacher?

 **Me:** Of 5 year olds! I don’t think Shakespeare is until 6yo. 

**Me:** ( ˘ ³˘)♥

 **Rin:** yeah yeah...alright hang on...

 **Rin:** basically it means that even though we’re apart in distance we are together in love, our love gives us a common goal...even though our situation forces us apart, no one can stop us from loving each other, although that distance does rob us of the intimacy of sex

 **Rin:** (*´ω｀*)

 **Me:** Don’t be embarrassed.

 **Me:** That’s really pretty Rin.

 **Rin:** it was prettier in fancy language 

**Me:** When are you coming home?

 **Rin:** it’s a couple days longer for me than I thought but Haru will still be there tomorrow  <(_ _)>

 **Me:** It’s fine Rin. I’m pretty busy anyway. 

**Rin:** Mako

 **Me:** It’s fine! I’m excited to see you whenever you get back home!

 **Rin:** ily (ʃƪ˘ﻬ˘)

 **Me:** I love you too, Rin. ❤ ❤ ❤

 

Makoto sighs. He tries to recall the last time the two of them spent any quality time together. It is measurable in months. Sure, in that time there has been the occasional stolen moment here and there, kisses exchanged as they breeze past each other in Rin’s flat, a hurried meal with some brief surface conversation, even a sporadic night where they pass out next to each other, both completely exhausted from their schedules. But Makoto wonders what the last moment was where they were both unhurried and present and relaxed. 

 

He thinks it was that lazy Sunday when Rin woke him up with his tongue on Makoto’s hip and a twinkle in his gorgeous crimson eyes. They had stayed in bed for many mischievous hours, then eventually got up to prepare brunch, which was mostly Rin chopping and stirring and sautéeing while Makoto hovered behind him with his arms around his waist and his nose nuzzling into the long silky hair behind Rin’s ear. They had cleaned up together, although it took an exceptionally long time since Rin kept flicking soapy bubbles onto Makoto’s hair and planting soft kisses on any part of his face he could find. Then they had whittled away the afternoon working on their music, both strumming their guitars, brainstorming lyrics, and melding their voices together to find the ideal harmony. They went out running after and spent twice as long getting freshened up in the shower after they got back. They went out to dinner, talked about everything and nothing, and leisurely went to bed, cuddling and kissing until Rin fell asleep in his arms, with his head nestled against Makoto’s heart.

 

Not for the first time, Makoto is mildly frustrated at Haru only swimming free because it’s not fair when Rin is constantly stretched too thin with multiple events in two strokes plus the IM and mentoring rookies. He knows this is childish and ridiculous and irrelevant, they have no bearing on each other. Haru’s events are freestyle sprints, so his pool and dryland training take up less time, plus his internal and natural approach to embracing the water does not make him useful in taking rookies under his wing. To add insult to injury, Sousuke does not work evenings, so whenever Haru is at their flat, so is Sousuke. Makoto feels like an interloper despite living there, a third wheel, lonely. It’s nothing that the other couple do in particular, in fact, quite the opposite; they embrace and include Makoto as if he was a part of their relationship in every place outside the bedroom. It’s simply the nature of working two jobs, and dating a man who is successful and constantly striving to succeed even more. 

 

Makoto checks his watch and hustles to get ready for his day of work. Mondays are no one’s favorite day but getting the news that Rin will, in fact, _not_ be home tomorrow, gives this one a slightly bitter taste. He begins his day at the elementary school to teach his first graders. One of the kids, Kenta, reminds him of Rin, though he hadn’t known him quite at this age yet. Kenta has boundless energy and is pushy, loud, and has never met a word he doesn’t like, yet is also big-hearted, sweet, and always trying to draw out the quieter kids to participate in class and on the playground. Spending time with Kenta makes Makoto miss Rin somehow more and less at the same time. One time in a moment of weakness, he almost offered his babysitting services to Kenta’s parents, before remembering that he is already booked most evenings teaching swim classes at the local indoor swimming club to earn extra money. Rin earns a decent amount of money from winnings and sponsors and has often told Makoto he is happy to help him out however he needs, but Makoto refuses to rely on his boyfriend to cover his financial shortfall. He saves as much as he can, but he has spent more than he’s saved in order to see Rin and Haru compete internationally. Both swimmers have tried to pay his way, but he won’t let them. He’s a grown man, with a solid career that he loves, and he can afford to travel to watch his boyfriend and best friend swim for their nation. Except that he really can’t, and so he picks up swim classes to teach.

 

Four school days a week, Makoto has an hour after school to head home, inhale a quick dinner, and grab his swim gear before heading to the swim club. Thursdays are his day off from evening swim classes, but tonight he needs to be there, as Mondays are when he has the youngest group of swimmers that he teaches. They are four and five years old and for most of them it’s their first time in the water without a parent present beside them. At this class every week, Makoto has visions of Rin and himself teaching their own children how to swim some day, knowing that his partner will be the most patient and dedicated parent imaginable with his own brood. It is thoughts like these that keep Makoto buoyed to face another lonely night without the person he wants by his side. 

**

Makoto begins his routine on Tuesday the same way as yesterday, except today he is aware that Haru will be home by the time he comes back to the flat to drop off his messenger bag and exchange it for his duffel bag.

 **Rin:** Good morning Mako!  <3

 **Rin:**  
_Wild nights! Wild nights!_  
_Were I with thee,_  
_Wild nights should be_  
_Our luxury!_

_Futile the winds_  
_To a heart in port,_  
_Done with the compass,_  
_Done with the chart._

_Rowing in Eden!_  
_Ah! the sea!_  
_Might I but moor_  
_To-night in thee!_

**Rin:** “Wild Nights” by Emily Dickinson 

**Me:** I wish you would be moored in me tonight.

 **Me:** I’m sorry, nevermind that, this is a nice one.

 **Rin:** (⌣_⌣”)

 **Rin:** sorry, I’ll be there soon

 **Rin:** try and have a good day ok?

 **Rin:** ily ( ⌯◞◟⌯)♡

 **Me:** I love you too.

 

Feeling sorry for himself, and frustrated that he allowed himself to be grumpy with Rin regarding something beyond his boyfriend’s control, is not the way Makoto wants to begin his Tuesday. He tries to rally the enthusiasm for the unbridled zest for life that he is about to experience in the 22 young faces of his students. Forcing himself to smile through his day, he manages to appear his usual pleasant self, although he knows his two closest friends will see right through him like he’s a pane of glass. Sometimes he longs to be covered in fingerprints and smudges and dirt so he is not so transparent. He can’t remember the last time he hoped for Haru and Sousuke not to be home.

 

When Makoto hustles through the door, the first thing he sees are two pairs of shoes in the entryway. He lets out a silent groan and steels himself with a deep breath before walking in to greet his two flatmates, both of whom he adores and would probably take a bullet for, but doesn’t want to see at all right now.

 

“Welcome home, Makoto,” Haru calls out in his calm way that normally envelops Makoto like a warm hug. 

 

“I’m home, Haru, and welcome home to you too,” Makoto parrots back, since after all, his best friend is the one who is truly returning. He walks into the kitchen to begin heating his soup, before going to greet Haru properly. On opposite ends of the couch are Haru and Sousuke, with their legs tangled together in the middle, both resting their feet in the other’s lap. It is very sweet and very much something Makoto doesn’t want to have to see right now while he’s pouting over his own relationship misfortune. 

 

However, Makoto wouldn’t be him if he didn’t slap a soft expression on his face, one he has honed over the years, his most perfected lie, and approach his roommates with grace. “Haru, how was your trip and your flight?”

 

He spends the next few minutes getting caught up on Haru’s tournament experience and mildly harrowing travel details, involving fresh fish and Customs. What he really wants to ask about, where his interest truly lies, is not in his best friend’s last eight days. He wants to interrupt and blurt out “What about Rin? How is he? How did he swim? When is his flight? Did you take care of him while you roomed together? Is he happy?” 

 

Eventually, far too long past when he needs to be going to get changed, Makoto excuses himself and sprints to his bedroom. He emerges to Sousuke handing him his bowl of soup and a spoon with an understanding grimace.

 

“He’ll be home in a few days. Haru said Rin and a couple other teammates were asked to stay for some last minute promotional video shoot and interview thing.” Sousuke pats his shoulder and gives a little squeeze. “I’m not sorry Haru’s home but I’m sorry he came back first. That’s kinda a kick in the nuts, isn’t it? Hang in there, man.”

 

There’s too much to say and yet nothing Makoto feels is appropriate to acknowledge the rock of support that this man has been for him over the last couple years. Despite dating Rin and knowing Haru his entire memorable life, Sousuke is the one constantly by his side, preventing him from being inescapably lonely, and providing a metaphorical shoulder to cry on. “Thanks for the soup, Sousuke.”

 

“No problem. Anytime.” Sousuke turns back to return to the living room and to Haru.

 

Makoto gets through his swim classes, Tuesday night being his most experienced swimmers at advanced novice level, before they level up to official beginners, broken down into age brackets and the earliest stages of pressure. He moves mechanically through his day Wednesday, after his routine wake-up text from Rin.

 **Rin:** Good morning Mako!  <3

 **Rin:**  
_Today we are obliged to be romantic_  
_And think of yet another valentine._  
_We know the rules and we are both pedantic:_  
_Today’s the day we have to be romantic._  
_Our love is old and sure, not new and frantic._  
_You know I’m yours and I know you are mine._  
_And saying that has made me feel romantic,_  
_My dearest love, my darling valentine._

 **Rin:** “Another Valentine” by Wendy Cope

 **Mako:** I love you so much, Rin. I hope you have the most amazing day!

 **Rin:** ╰(✿´⌣`✿)╯♡

 **Rin:** ily too

 

Makoto stumbles home, thoroughly spent, grateful for the umpteenth time that he agreed to take Thursday nights off from swim club. He walks through the door of the flat and toes off his shoes. It is blessedly silent; Sousuke and Haru must be out, perhaps for dinner or even a midweek date. He is happy for them, pleased that they are reunited. Makoto makes a mental note to stop being childish, stop focusing so much on his own loneliness, and be a part of his friends’ lives, to share in their joys and successes. They do it for him and he should not begrudge them his time and attention merely because he is having a little relationship drama, unbeknown to Rin. He’s dealt with this for years already, _they’ve dealt with this_ , this isn’t new, this just feels like a longer stretch than usual, both of them running in a hundred different directions, none of them the same one. He wonders when they got off the path they traveled together, when they hit a fork in the road that led Rin one way, while Makoto continued on straight ahead. He doesn’t like thinking that they are not united on this, but the idea plants in his brain that perhaps life circumstances are splitting them apart, forcing them to separate corners. 

 

* _ding ding_ *

 **Principal Horikoshi:** Hello everyone. The water main broke at the elementary school this evening so classes for tomorrow, Thursday May 14th, have been cancelled. We will let you know about Friday as we know more information. My apologies for the last minute notification.

 

The remainder of the evening and the entire next day stretching before him completely free of commitments, Makoto sighs in relief and feels the exhaustion lift off of him slightly, muting itself into just a simple tiredness that can be cured by a soak in the bathtub and decent night’s sleep. He thanks his lucky stars that Haru is gone so the bathtub is free, though he knows his best friend would let him bathe if he wants to, but he hates to be an imposition on one of Haru’s most treasured pastimes. A thought occurs to him and he grabs his phone.

 **Me:** Hey Rin, water main broke at the school so I’m off unexpectedly tomorrow, call me sometime you’ve got a break in your day! I’ll actually have time to talk. ⊂( ◜◒◝ )⊃

 

He spends a solid hour in the bath, letting the water gradually cleanse away his poisonous thoughts and poor attitude, and fill him with a renewed sense of calm and acceptance. He loves Rin, and Rin loves him, and they went into this eyes wide open, knowing how tough some of these times might be. Makoto cannot, _will not_ , abandon Rin now. He’s aware love is not necessarily enough but it’s what they’ve got and it’s no small thing. He gets out, dries off, manages to brush his teeth as he fights off a wave of bone-deep fatigue, and collapses into his bed, blearily looking at the time and feeling surprised Sousuke and Haru are out this late in the middle of the week. He does not take the time to ponder it too much as he closes his eyes and gives in to slumber.

 

When Makoto next opens his eyes, the sun is streaming through the window he forgot to pull the curtains on last night. It is so bright in his bedroom, he wonders how he ever manages to sleep until his alarm or cell phone alerts him of his pending work day. He is so grateful he has nothing to do today, he considers rolling right back over to try and snooze away some of his morning. He reaches for his phone and sees there is no new text from Rin, which explains how he did not wake up to any pinging sounds. Feeling a twinge of disappointment deep in his chest, he is now determined to roll over and drown in an unconscious state for more of the morning. Makoto flings his phone down, definitely not in an infantile fit of pique, but in a slightly disgruntled manly way. He flips his pillow and twists around under the blanket towards the other side of the bed, and gets a face full of soft burgundy hair. 

 

Makoto rubs his eyes and pinches his side, and looks again, but filling his vision is undoubtedly one peacefully slumbering Matsuoka Rin, in his bed, looking like he both belongs there and spends every night there. He does belong there, and if Makoto had his way he would never let him leave, even though he definitely would, because Rin’s lofty dreams and aspirations are far away from this bedroom with a simple man like Makoto. 

 

Rin. Makoto reaches a hand out to brush the tangled hair away from his face, and lets his palm linger on Rin’s cheek. He knows he’s sleeping, he really should just get out of bed and let him be, but he’s _here_ , and he’s warm, and Makoto has missed him so much over the last few months it _hurts_ , but it doesn’t hurt right now. He leans down and kisses Rin’s forehead as gently as he can, he really does not want to wake him up, he just want to kiss him again, feel Rin against his lips so he can burn it into his memory, since his memories are all the fuel he has to fill his constantly dwindling emotional tank. He moves from Rin’s forehead down to his eyelids and presses his mouth against the delicate skin there, that flutters with the rapid movement of dreams. He trails kisses along sharp cheekbones, a strong chin, and up to the end of Rin’s nose. He tilts his forehead into Rin’s and lets it rest there, closing his eyes and slowly inhaling everything Rin breathes out. 

 

He feels a hand move to his face and Makoto looks to find red eyes watching him. “Good morning, Makoto,” Rin whispers, his face full of uncertainty and longing, he doesn’t look happy, which fills Makoto will unease.

 

“I’m happy you’re here,” he replies simply because it’s the truth. He is fulfilled in many ways in his life but nothing fills him with a greater sense of belonging, delight, and peace, as well as knowing he is adored and appreciated, than being with Rin. He is astounded that he let himself sink into doubts about their relationship, doubts _about them_ , when all it takes is a moment with Rin to remind him how very much he loves the man in his bed and how very much he is loved in return.

 

“Are you? You seemed upset the other day and I feel like maybe you think, that...” Rin trails off, gazing at Makoto with those eyes that hold dozens of emotions at once, all warring for center stage, although right now they look a little lost.

 

Makoto needs to hear what Rin has to say, even though he doesn’t think he’ll like it. “What do I think?”

 

Rin swallows thickly and takes a deep steadying breath. “I thought maybe, you, that you don’t want to put up with this anymore.” His eyes are shining now, but Makoto sees no tears yet, which is good because he loves how emotional Rin is but can’t handle the sight of him crying because it makes him want to cry, to share whatever burden Rin carries. “I, just that I, maybe you don’t want to put up with me anymore.” Rin shrugs and shrinks back slightly, ready for a blow not from Makoto’s fists but from his words. 

 

Makoto frowns, absorbing everything he just heard. This is not how their reunion is supposed to go. Rin appearing next to him in his bed erased all his doubts in a heartbeat, Makoto wants nothing but this, nothing but Rin. “I _am_ tired of this Rin.” He can’t speak fast enough to stop the shoulders from tensing, the flinch, the deep frown between the eyebrows, but he wants to finish his thoughts before the tears start, he can’t make Rin cry during their first proper conversation in weeks, possibly months. “But I could never be tired of you, Rin, of this. I love you. I’m all in for you.” There are the tears; they stream down Rin’s face uncontrollably, without abandon and without shame and Makoto feels his face fall. “Don’t cry, Rin, please.”

 

Arms wrap around him as Rin lunges forward to embrace Makoto. He folds his head into Makoto’s shoulder and the tears keep coming, soaking his shirt, he can feel it getting damp where it touches his skin. He lifts a hand to finger comb through Rin’s hair, smoothing his palm down the head that rests against his body. Gradually, the crying subsides and Rin lets out a few shaky breaths which Makoto feels on his arm and appreciates for what they are; warm rhythmic puffs of air that serve as proof of Rin’s presence in his life. 

 

“I miss you, Makoto, all the time. I love what I do but I’m tired of this too. Is it worth it?” Rin delivers the sucker punch when he is least expecting it, his partner having pulled back from the sobbing hug but still clinging to Makoto’s upper arms . 

 

How can you ask that?” He manages to gasp out, feeling choked from the inside, pulling Rin’s hands away from his body.

 

Rin peers at him, bewilderment across his pretty face, hands hovering awkwardly in the air. “I just don’t know-”

 

“Well, _I_ know,” begins Makoto, an unrehearsed speech about to vomit out of his mouth, let the chips fall where they may. “You are the most amazing person I know and you _see me_. You always have. Even in grade school, even when you were focused on beating Haru to prove a point to yourself, even when your best friend broke your heart with his lies, you and I were always solid. We have always respected each other. When that grew into something more, I wasn’t surprised that I felt that way about you, but I was shocked you felt that way about me. I’m just...me. You are this perfectly imperfect man that I adore and love and admire and I want to take care of you, and I know you’ll take care of me. So don’t ask me if this is worth it, if we’re worth it, because I am certain we are and always will be.”

 

“Makoto.” Rin looks upset and desperate, his tone frantic and full of the passionate Rin that Makoto loves so much it overwhelms him at times. “I didn’t mean us. I meant swimming. I can quit swimming, I can get into coaching or something, I made the Olympics once, I didn’t do everything I wanted but I did enough. Makoto, my dreams are shifting the older I’m getting. The Olympics is shrinking but you’re growing. I would rather never swim again than lose you. And, I don’t know that I can keep doing this if it hurts you. I don’t _want_ to keep doing this if it hurts you.”

 

Makoto feels a million tiny weights rise off his body and something settles within him. He leans forward to clasp Rin’s hand, which is balled into a fist in his lap. “No Rin, don’t quit for me. I’m fine. We can keep doing this if it’s how it is. If you aren’t happy anymore, then you need to make that choice for you. But I’ll be here whether you retire tomorrow or ten years from now. I’m here, Rin. I’m not going anywhere and I don’t want to go anywhere. I’m happy with you and I can’t imagine not being happy with you.”

 

Rin rests his forehead against Makoto’s and grins sheepishly. “This is...not how I thought this would go for us. I thought you’d be so blown away by my unexpected presence in your bed that you’d wake me up and pound me into the mattress. I even begged Sousuke and Haru to go to my place for the night so we’d be able to do what we wanted, no holds barred.”

 

Makoto flushes but smirks back at his boyfriend. “That can still be arranged you know. I mean, it’s been awhile. There’s a lot to hammer out, I assume you can do some banging of your own while we’re at it.”

 

“Oh you bet I can,” retorts Rin without pause, before sobering a bit. “Let’s keep our lines of communication open for all this, yeah? Just because you’re fine with everything now doesn’t mean you always will be, or that I will be. How about we promise to revisit this every now and then, make sure our choices are still the right ones? Love poems are well and good but real talk is probably more important.”

 

Makoto nods and beams his favorite smile at his favorite person. “That’s a good idea. Now. I believe we were talking about your expectations for how this morning was going to go.” After awhile he doesn’t know who is on the top or who is on the bottom, but enjoys every moment as they tangle together, kissing and touching in a flurry of limbs and love and laughter.

 

**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be humorous fluff, Rin waking up non-morning person Makoto just because "aww I'm home, I missed you, I was lonely eating my breakfast without you". Seriously, I saw the prompt and envisioned sweet, smooshy MR. *sweats* I don't know what happened!


	2. Blue Shades of Nail Polish (SH)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PROMPT: person A convinces person B to let them paint their nails

 

**

 

“Alright, let me see ‘em,” commands Rin, already dominating the conversation even having arrived like a whirlwind only a few short moments ago. He gestures in the universally childish grabby hands way towards Haru, who sits on the couch looking slightly amused. 

 

“It’s nothing too different than usual. I’m proud of the left thumb work though.” Haru holds out his left hand for inspection, knowing that Rin will gush and fawn over anything he’s produced. He’s a very easy audience and simple to please, of which Haru is exceedingly grateful since his last gallery show hadn’t gotten the ravest of reviews. “What do you think?”

 

Rin races over to grasp Haru’s proffered hand and gasps. “Haru! Holy shit, that dolphin looks so real! You’re amazing. Can you do something like that on mine?”

 

“Can you sit still this time long enough for me to actually design something personal?” Haru can’t help but gently remind Rin of that time he got up to get a snack even though his nails were only half dry and there was still half the argyle pattern to see to. When Rin had opened the banana, all Haru’s handiwork was smudged and he refused to fix it, only offering to use polish remover to clean the whole thing off and leave it blank until the next time he felt inspired or like dealing with Rin’s impatience. 

 

Rin clicks his tongue. “Tch. I’m not five years old, Haru.”

 

At this Sousuke scoffs and rolls his eyes, mostly fondly but somewhat in exasperation with Rin’s denial. “Aren’t you though? Weren’t you the one tugging on Tachibana’s hand like an overexcited child the last time we all went out and we ended up at the Nature and Science Museum? You were so excited about the Challenge the Mystery human body exhibit I thought you were gonna rip his arm off. I’ve seen toddlers at the zoo less hyped than that.”

 

“Alright, alright! It was a good exhibit though, I mean I wanted to see how the physiology of the human body has adapted over time-”

 

“Rin.” Both Sousuke and Haru interrupt their friend in tandem, not wanting to hear again about the intricacies of human anatomy.

 

“We were all there, remember?” Sousuke grins to remind Rin this is all good-natured teasing. 

 

Haru looks over at Sousuke, willing him to push a little further, Rin can take it. He wouldn’t have let him off the hook so easily and he _did_ ruin Haru’s most exact argyle pattern to date. On a thumbnail. He had been quite proud of it, still is if he’s ever asked about it, which he isn’t. 

 

“Come on over Rin. You don’t want exactly this, do you? I assume you want a shark,” guesses Haru, as he reaches to Rin’s hand to grasp his thumb and smooth his finger over the nail, picturing how the art will reveal itself over the next hour. 

 

Rin blushes and sheepishly smiles. “Actually, well, I think I want an orca.”

 

Sousuke barks out a laugh. “Oh that is the most precious thing you’ve said since you admitted to me in fourth grade that you thought Kisumi was pretty, and you said that his hair looked like cotton candy clouds that you wanted to curl up on and take a nap.”

 

Haru looks up at Rin for confirmation of that delicious detail and the bright red face is all the answer he needs. He quietly snorts. “I think it’s nice. Makoto will love it.” He stands up and beckons for his friend to follow him to his bedroom, where his desk functions as his makeshift nail salon, complete with standard items like clippers, nail files, cuticle sticks, cotton pads, and sweet almond oil, as well as toothpicks, a couple pointed round size 0 paintbrushes, and the brightest LED gooseneck table lamp he could find for fine detail work. 

 

Rin follows like an eager puppy, Haru’s most willing client, although he serves more as a tester and model for some of his more outlandish ideas than anything else. Rin is game for anything, and Haru is experimental in his craft, so they make the perfect team for nail painting. If Haru is being completely honest with himself, the person he really wants to work on isn’t willing to put lacquer on his fingernails, regardless of his faith in Haru. Sousuke may be his partner but he is downright resistant to looking foolish and acting as a tool in Haru’s artistic process. Except for the semester Haru realized he struggled drawing human bodies and begged Sousuke to sit as a personal figure model for him. They weren’t dating yet, however Makoto would have died before taking his clothes off in front him, Rin would have happily shed his clothing but would still be obnoxiously crowing about it to this day; and not a million yen and the promise of headlining a pop-up exhibit at Take Ninagawa would ever make him ask Kisumi to pose for him. No. It had to be Sousuke who, Haru could recognize even then, has a measure of composure and discretion. Despite that, he refuses to allow Haru to put brush to nail on his body, though he admires it on other people. 

 

Haru sends Rin to wash his natural oils off his hands, while gathering his tools for the manicure. He never considered putting a whale shark on his own thumb. Leave it to Rin to be a romantic idiot and plant the seed for his next thumb art. Maybe Sousuke could be moved to let Haru paint his nails if he was bowled over with a sappy gesture first, although Haru doubts he can be, and he’s not one for subterfuge anyway, so this thought leaves his head almost as quickly as it comes. Rin returns and Haru gets to work pushing back cuticles and prepping his nails, only partially longing that it was Sousuke perched across from him, chattering his ear off about his last physical therapy session. 

**

“Makoto’s going to love this, Haru, thank you so much! It’s perfect. I don’t know how you do it but it’s so good, I could go on and on,” babbles Rin while Haru forcibly walks him to the door, encouraging him to just go already. He loves Rin, he does, but needs space from him after his manicures, after most things they do together. He never thought he would tire of hearing his praises sung, but he just wants Sousuke and his steadiness and his calm, even if he sings his praises far less often. Haru recalls the last time Sousuke praised him and he flushes pink when he recalls the low, rumbling voice in his head chanting his name in reverence and telling him repeatedly he’s _so fucking good_ at doing _that, just like that_.

 

He moves to the kitchen to wash his hands before he feels arms wrap around his waist and a forehead rest on his shoulder. “Why is the back of your neck all red, hmm Nanase?” Haru loves that the family names that used to be spoken in derision are now used as pet names when they want to rile each other up. Just hearing it roll off Sousuke’s lips into his skin makes his blood heat up and his heartbeat stutter, yet in a reckless fit of stubbornness, he turns his head to nose at the ear he can reach and picks at an invisible scab.

 

“Just thinking about how hot it would be if you let me paint your toenails.” Haru knows this is a lost cause, that he just dumped a gallon of ice water all over the sparking flames between them, but he wants this, so badly, it’s an itch Sousuke won’t let him scratch, his smooth, pink, virgin nails practically luring him in like a siren song, making his head fuzzy. “You already like when I play with your feet and suck your toes, this wouldn’t be that different.” He feels the moment his boyfriend tenses and starts to pull away. 

 

“Haru, I’m a dude,” begins Sousuke, the argument well-rehearsed at this point.

 

“So am I, so is your best friend. Are we less manly because we decorate our fingernails?” Haru hears his tone, isn’t sure when he began spoiling for a fight. 

 

Sousuke growls in frustration. “Dammit Haru, you know I don’t think that, I’m just not comfortable with it. You two pull it off and I’ve admitted many times how much I like it and how good it looks on you guys. You do incredible work, it’s just, not for me.”

 

“Don’t you trust me?” Haru can hear the petulance and desperation and accusations that leach into his tone but he’s too far down this path to reel it back in. This whole argument is irrational, why does he care _so much_ about Sousuke’s reticence on this? “Don’t you trust my art?”

 

Sousuke sounds angry now, Haru doesn’t blame him, he’s goading him beyond the point his boyfriend can usually handle, getting personal. “What the fuck? Do you give Tachibana this much shit for the exact same decision I’m making? You know what? Nevermind, I can’t do this right now. Go paint your nails or whatever the fuck makes you happy, I’m going for a walk.”

 

Haru doesn’t watch as Sousuke stalks away, he can hear the heavy footfalls just fine, listens as the door slams, knowing his partner is now on the other side of a wall. And he pushed him there, practically taunting him and making up allegations, knowing full well Sousuke has never looked down on him for any expression of his art. He frowns and stares down at the kitchen counter like Life’s answers are buried deep within the cheap laminate surface, which is ridiculous, not because Life would choose something much more aesthetically pleasing, but because Haru caused this entire dramatic scene to unfold, with Sousuke merely an unwilling stage actor forced to read the script.

 

Haru stalks into his bedroom, saturates a cotton pad with nail polish remover and vigorously swipes it first across his left thumb and then all the other nails on his hands, removing all traces of the light blue lacquer and painstakingly executed charcoal dolphin that had been merrily residing on his thumbnail. He whips the soiled pad into the trashcan and throws himself into the desk chair, glaring at his rainbow array of polishes, furiously looking for the one color he spent too much money on but had to have the second he spotted it on the shelf at the beauty supply store. He plucks it out of his display and rolls it around his hand, listening to the small metal mixing balls rattle around within the viscous liquid. 

 

Without any preparations beyond a deep calming breath, Haru begins to slowly paint this intoxicating color on his fingernails, relaxing the longer he focuses on the hue and the repetitive motion he is so familiar with. He loses himself in the task, not paying any attention to the time, or the world around him at all. When he’s finished applying two coats, he gets to work redoing the art on his left thumb. Though inspired by his emotionally-charged and, frankly, ridiculous friend, this design on his thumb is entirely Haru’s creation. He has no idea how long he spends staring at the one square inch of space he’s decorating but he is completely serene as he designs, putting the finishing touches on his latest masterpiece, only now allowing a thread of shame to wind its way around him. 

 

Haru glances at the clock but he has no idea when Sousuke stormed out, has no idea exactly how worried he should be at his infantile behavior which drove his boyfriend away. He taps lightly on his nails to check for tackiness of the top coat, pleased everything feels bone dry. He locates his phone and taps out a quick message, hoping there is a quick and useful reply. 

**Me:** Is Sousuke there?

 **Makoto:** Hey Haru! No he’s not here, is he supposed to be? 

**Makoto:** BTW you did a beautiful job of Rin’s nails! He cried when he showed me the whale on his thumb. 

**Makoto:** You are such a talented artist, Haru! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و

 

Guilt lances through him, makes him unable to even properly thank his best friend for heaping more praise on him when he doesn’t care at all about his creative abilities right now; he wonders instead how he can be such a thoughtless person sometimes that he actually drives away someone he cares for, who cares for him. So Sousuke doesn’t want his nails painted, so he tells Haru no, so Haru doesn’t get what he wants, is that such a difficult burden for him to bear? He ponders in frustration the idea that he is as spoiled as he’s allowed himself to fear in the past. And where is Sousuke, really out on a walk? Haru peeks back down at his phone to confirm it truly is getting as late as it appears to be when he directs his glare out the window, and when did it start raining? 

 

With shoes freshly on his feet, and one hand on the door while another one grips two umbrellas, Haru is startled when the door opens before him. Sousuke stands dripping in the hallway, glowering at Haru like he wishes he was still lost on the streets of Tokyo instead of standing outside his own residence. This is his chance to make it right, to not take back what he said because the words have already poisoned the air, but to coat over them with an apologetic and sincere balm that will soothe Sousuke’s unfairly stung ego. Not for the first nor last time, Haru wishes he was better with words; his boyfriend deserves the most eloquent groveling. Haru is willing but unable to deliver that message in a vocal way. 

 

Haru reaches for him, tugs him into the flat, and grasps his partner’s strong sturdy forearms, grounding himself as much as Sousuke. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have accused you of things I know aren’t true. I was stupid.”

 

“What you said was stupid, you’re not stupid Haru,” responds Sousuke, voice gentle but still tight with emotion. He looks down at the hands holding him and tilts his head. “Your nails are different. And, wait, you changed your thumb.” Sousuke gets out of Haru’s hold to raise his boyfriend's left hand closer to his face, before lifting his gaze back up. Haru cannot tell where Sousuke’s eyes end and his own fingernails begin.

 

“I was inspired.” Haru shrugged, not wanting to discuss it, just wanting Sousuke to _get it_ and believe how very much he is adored and appreciated and respected. His small thumb decoration speaks louder than Haru could if he had weeks to prepare and deliver the perfect speech, his art yet again serving as an orator, a translator for his impossibly big feelings that he cannot effectively communicate.

 

“Inspired huh? You even put whale shark markings all over it to differentiate it from other sharks. I’m impressed.” Sousuke rubs soothing circles into Haru’s palm as he vocally praises the art silently dedicated to him.

 

Haru tries to deflect. “It was Rin’s idea,” he mumbles out, averting his face from Sousuke’s scrutiny, he sees everything. Makoto may be able to read his mind at times but he swears this man sees into the depths of his soul and turns him inside out. 

 

“Tch, Rin’s an idiot.”

 

“I’m an idiot.”

 

“Fine, but you’re my idiot.” Sousuke raises Haru’s hand to his mouth and plants a gentle kiss in the back of it. “You know, I think I felt a little of what you are always saying about water while I was walking around.”

 

Haru’s interest is piqued, he is so used to being mocked for his notions about the freeing nature of water, being teased for wanting to embrace water as it calms his mind and centers him down to the core. He lifts an eyebrow, urging his boyfriend to continue.

 

“Well, the rain started and I swear I actually felt like it was erasing my anger. I just wanted to get back to you and apologize for being more narrow-minded than I ever admit to.” Sousuke hunches his shoulders and drops Haru’s hands to shove his own in his pockets. “Maybe I do think sometimes you and Rin come off a little silly with your flamboyant nails. I don’t judge either of you for it, and I recognize how talented you are, but I don’t want to be viewed as a joke by other people.”

 

“It’s okay to feel that way,” states Haru, not wanting to push Sousuke away and it really is fine. Haru doesn’t feel awkward having painted nails, so it is irrelevant whether or not Sousuke would be comfortable with them himself. It isn’t Haru’s body to force his agenda, he needs to let this go, especially with the honesty being laid at his feet. “I shouldn’t push you.”

 

Sousuke grins at him, hand resting on the back of his neck. “Maybe it’ll take me awhile to get up the courage to go out in public, but, I think I’d like it if you painted my nails. I want a piece of you marking me, that I can see.”

 

Haru already shakes his head, he has forced this reluctant acceptance of his own desires on Sousuke, which is unacceptable. He knows how resistant he himself is when people try to force their ways onto him, and he loathes to think he is doing the same thing to someone else, someone he cares so deeply about. 

 

“Now hang on a second, you haven’t goaded me into this. I was doing some thinking while I was walking around getting misted on like a parsnip in the vegetable section.” Sousuke holds up his hand, begging Haru to hear out his epiphany. “I admire your art, I admire you. I want to try this because I want everything with you. It’s important to you which makes it important to me because I want it to be. If I’m embarrassed, I can take it off, like it was never there.” He reaches over to clutch Haru’s hands again. “Although I can’t imagine wanting you erased. Careful Nanase, you might be doing more manicures than you ever bargained for.”

 

Haru bites his lip, his family name murmured in Sousuke’s deep rumbling baritone going straight to his groin. “Can I paint them now?”

 

Sousuke laughs. “You better. You don’t think I made that speech for my health, do you?” He allows Haru to take his hand and tug him to his bedroom, where he takes a seat in the designated chair. Haru wants this to be memorable and special, no matter how often his boyfriend thinks he will want his nails painted. This is their first time and he is determined to make a positive impression, leaving Sousuke wanting more, begging for Haru to work his magic again. This is huge; he’s being given a gift, Sousuke is taking a step towards understanding him better, deeper. He needs to leave an imprint on Sousuke that buries further inside him than surface lacquer, brighter than the never-used shocking pink polish he bought on a whim, more intricate than the second whale shark he plans to design for the evening. 

 

Haru brings a washcloth over to wipe away any grease on Sousuke’s nails, before reverently drying them. As he begins to work on stubborn cuticles, he instructs Sousuke to choose a color. “You can start simple, maybe a pearl or that really pale blue? You don’t need to be bold to make a point.” He moves to filing while the man before him appears to agonize over the selection. “It’s shouldn’t feel like standardized testing, if you don’t like the first one you choose, I can remove it and you can try something else.”

 

“Hmm? Oh no, I already know which one I want,” Sousuke declares, smug amusement all over his face. Warily, Haru asks which one he has chosen, hand already hovering by the more neutral part of his shelf. “The shiny blue, right there.”

 

Haru snaps his gaze to where Sousuke points at the nail polish that Rin had given him as a present after he’d received his first manicure from Haru. Rin had said if he ever wanted fingernails that resembled Haru’s pool eyes he would know where to get them done. With slightly trembling fingers that belie his outward confidence at performing this ritual on his boyfriend, he takes the “Pool Eyes” lacquer, which is actually Night Nail by OPI, down and starts to lightly shake it to remix any separation. This is a huge moment and Haru feels it deep in his gut, feels as it tightens around his heart in a warm embrace. Sousuke trusts him and Haru can’t let him down, he won’t let him down. 

 

Haru scoots forward and holds one of Sousuke’s large hands in his own. He leans forward to softly kiss him, a promise, before leaning back and beginning the slow, soothing painting on this living canvas. He knows teal eyes watch every movement, as his hands rock back and forth across Sousuke’s hands. He gently blows before switching to the other hand, repeating the same process a few times until two complete coats of metallic blue polish are dry on previously unadorned fingernails. 

 

Sousuke lifts his gaze to Haru. “Will you draw on my thumb too?”

 

“Of course, anything you want.” Haru awaits this choice, feels it will be momentous whatever it is, knows what he’s waiting to hear but tries to place no heavy significance on the outcome should he not hear the word he is certain Sousuke will say. He fails to lower his expectations, his nerves build in anticipation. Spoiled or not, he wants Sousuke to want him, need him, long for him in the same way he does for Sousuke. Haru doesn’t crave fancy words or gallant actions, he just desires one request from his partner, one simple word, right here and right now in his bedroom. He holds his breath and lifts his eyes to Sousuke’s.

 

Sousuke’s expression holds nothing but love and respect and confidence when he replies without hesitation. “I want a dolphin.”

 

**

 


	3. Dreams, Confessions, and Tears (MR)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PROMPT: person A confesses to person B at the very last moment before one of them leaves indefinitely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys, I'm so salty that Rin is being sent back to Australia.

 

**

 

“Wait!” Rin turns around at the sound of a familiar voice, a voice that somehow over the past few months has begun to make his heart race. He and the man calling for him have spoken many times since they were twelve years old, although admittedly there was too long of a silence in the middle, the last six years of communication being mostly concentrated within the past two. Rin isn’t sure when he started to get damp palms in the other’s presence, or when his mouth started getting dry if he saw his name on his caller i.d. His mother and Gou have already seen Rin off, his train to Itami airport arriving any minute. Getting delayed now will use up all the wiggle room he built into his lengthy travel day; he woke up in Japan and will be falling asleep in Australia, after one short train ride to Osaka, one short flight to Tokyo, and then one really long flight to Sydney. 

 

Despite knowing he will now most likely miss the next train, and that he really really needs to be on the one that comes thirty minutes later, Rin’s face splits into a smile so broad it almost hurts. Almost. Gazing at the face beaming back at him, growing steadily closer as the other man jogs towards him, his heart beat picks up the pace. As he quickly approaches, Rin’s heart pounds in time, his pulse matching the other’s stride. He licks his lips and swallows thickly, tries to gather the courage to finally tell the other how he feels. 

 

This is not the right time, that’s what Rin has been telling himself since he realized. He doesn’t know exactly how it happened, he wasn’t expecting it, honestly he thought it would be someone else, if it was anyone at all. He has been so focused on swimming, leaving _again_ , chasing this dream to the ends of the earth, helping his friends figure out their futures. He doesn’t have time for infatuation, for romance, for love, although he knows he wants this. Rin lives for this feeling, the rush he’s only ever gotten from the water and a challenge, but now he knows there is something else, someone else, who can make him feel this way. He _really wants this_. But he’s leaving. In thirty minutes. For another hemisphere and his goals. This has to wait. 

 

“Rin,” gasps out the other man, bent over with his hands on his knees, slightly out of breath but still looking thrilled he made it in time to catch his friend. “I caught you before you got on the train!”

 

Rin watches his friend’s flushed face, lips slightly open, chest rising and falling shallowly, and feels just as out of breath as the other. He reaches out a hand to lay it on the hunched shoulder as the train whistles to a stop behind him. “Relax, now we have a solid half an hour before you even have to think about moving again. Focus on not asphyxiating for now. How are you this out of shape already, we just stopped swimming.” Rin chuckles, teasing the man who throws a very slight scowl at him. 

 

“Running across Iwatobi to the train station in Sano is longer than it looks, Rin. I’m a swimmer, not a track star,” huffs the other man, having mostly regained his composure, eyes sparkling with mirth.

 

Rin wants to blurt out something reckless and crazy in response, but remembers at the last moment that it isn’t fair to tie someone to him across an ocean, across school semesters, across years, especially someone as beautiful and admirable as the person before him. Rin isn’t sure he deserves someone this magnificent, but he knows the other doesn’t deserve shackles. He doesn’t even know if his feelings are reciprocated or if the object of his affection likes men. Rin rarely feels like an expert on anything, but he realizes even the basics in this scenario are a complete mystery.

 

“I-I love that you came.” Rin saves it at the last second, keeps his churning emotions at bay before he can ruin the friendship they both worked to reestablish. Some of the others were harder for him to reconnect with, took more of Rin’s effort and humility, but not this man. He exudes grace and forgiveness without even trying, and Rin just had to be willing to show up and bask in the offered warmth to get the absolution he so desperately needed.

 

A soft, tinkling laugh fills the air. “Of course I came. Yesterday was such a whirlwind of activity, with the party and the race, and the confusion over the toy. I felt like we didn’t even have a moment, not that I thought I would get one with you. There were more important people for you to say goodbye to.” The man softly nods his head towards the vending machines and benches, and they head over to take a seat.

 

Rin slides his travel backpack off his shoulders, tucks it between his legs, and leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He turns to gaze at the person sitting by his side, although he’s too nervous to make eye contact. “You’re important.”

 

“Well not compared to-”

 

“You’re important to me,” interrupts Rin, not wanting to hear any self-deprecating thoughts flung from the other’s mouth. Now is the perfect time for a confession if he is so inclined, and he is, he wants to be, even if his innermost romantic sentiments aren’t mirrored back towards him. Olympic gold is for dreamers; right now Rin desires nothing more than to tell this amazing person how significant he truly is, to a lot of people but especially to Rin. Medals and records and victory are perpetual carrots he swims towards, but this living, breathing being next to him is right here, present, Rin can reach out and seize him if he thinks it’s the right thing to do. He knows it isn’t. For once, just this once, he needs to maintain control of his overwhelming emotions, not give in to the urges of his heart and his mouth, and instead let his brain guide his hand. 

 

The two men lock eyes for a moment, and in this instant Rin’s lungs cease to function and his heart stutters. He feels his face heat up and knows he now sports an unattractive shade of pink across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. Lately, he’s been this color more often around this friend than he cares to admit. It doesn’t matter what it is, everything about him at this point makes Rin blush; his genuine smile, his concerned looks, his authoritative tone, his arms while swimming his stroke, his back which looks like it has been chiseled out of marble. Rin bites his lip and spins his head the other direction, letting out a small scoff at his own inability to rein in his bodily reactions. He feels a tug on his elbow and turns back. 

 

“Rin.” A small grin and a head tilt fill his view, warming him in a completely different way than thinking about his friend’s musculature. “I came to tell you something, although I probably shouldn’t right before you leave.”

 

Rin inhales sharply and holds his breath. For a moment, he wonders if something is wrong, if something terrible has happened to send the other man running across town to seek him out. He glances down at his mouth, still smiling, and even though the other is an expert at tamping down and hiding his truths, even Rin’s mind can settle with certainty knowing there is no horrific news about to come his way. As he opens his mouth to ask what it is, a hand is in front of his face, begging to be allowed to finish his thoughts first.

 

“I’m going to get this out,” declares the other man with a confidence belied by his expression. “I’ve known something for months, and even though I knew time was running out, it didn’t feel like the end of high school would ever actually come. Since the trip during Obon and reconciling after our fight, my stubborn best friend has been trying to convince me to talk to you. And I wanted to, so many times Rin, but I was too scared.”

 

“Scared? Of me?” Rin’s emotions are all over the place. His friends are still nervous to talk to him, this friend in particular? He feels his heart drop to his stomach and lodge there like a boulder. The issues he dragged back to Japan and spit at his friends and teammates should all be far behind them; they’ve gotten past all that, yesterday’s festivities seemed like solid proof from Rin’s perspective. Maybe that surprise party was an easy way to send him off after graduation without having to be too intimate, not let things get too personal. The only person who had really singled him out to chat yesterday was Sousuke, obviously someone not intimidated or annoyed by too much Rin. Perhaps the others have finally had enough of his dramatics and big dreams and grieving his father, all while endlessly carrying on about Australia and the international swimming stage and the future. Rin hasn’t felt this unsure of himself in months. Everything wasn’t magically fixed with the disqualified relay heard around the world, but it carved strong inroads for Rin to nuzzle his way back into everyone’s hearts over the last year, or more accurately, allowed Rin to open himself back up to let the light in. And there was no stronger light than the man sitting beside him, apparently too anxious to talk to him. 

 

A large warm hand covers the one clenched on Rin’s thigh. “I could never be scared of you, Rin. You’re like one of the kittens that sits on the steps by my house. She’s proud and assertive, but also gentle and loving, skittish if something makes her nervous, and nothing, absolutely nothing, stops her from coming back for what she wants. In her case, that’s cream and a cuddle.”

 

Rin side eyes his friend, a hundred inappropriate comments popping into his head, but he holds his tongue to let the other man say what he came to say. Plus, given the situation, his warring emotions, and his disabling inability to have any chill under duress, he knows he would stumble and blush over any quip he attempts. 

 

“I was scared to talk to you. Just about this. I woke up this morning to a text from Sousuke, reminding me that I’m helping him apartment hunt in Tokyo next weekend. And he asked me if I said anything to you last night since you were already gone this morning. Which is when it hit me that you’re leaving. You’re really leaving, and I’ve been avoiding thinking about that.” The man beside him heaves a shuddering breath that lifts his sculpted shoulders and brings them back down. He pivots his whole body towards Rin, and now holds both the hands clenched in Rin’s lap. 

 

“Sousuke knows about whatever this is?” Rin is so confused at this point he doesn’t know which way is up. When did they even become friends? It’s fantastic, especially since they will both be in Tokyo, but a little unexpected, and Rin feels neither for the first nor the last time, a pang of missing out. He knows he’s doing the right thing for him, for his dream, _he is_ , but the people he loves and cares about are all right here. He wants to leave, he knows he needs to leave, but he desperately wants to stay; why can’t he have everything? Why must he choose? He belongs here, _right here_ , with his family, with Sousuke, with the Iwatobi swimmers, especially the person sitting on this bench. 

 

“Sousuke figured it out before I did,” comes the murmured reply. The hands holding his tighten, and a chuckle escapes lips that have finally stopped smiling. Rin watches a tongue dart out and nervously lick a thick bottom lip, and his own pulse speeds up again, heart thumping wildly against his rib cage. “I’ve never done this before. Rin, this is super unfair to do to you right before you leave, but, ummm, I really like you. I’ve liked you for awhile now and didn’t know how to tell you. You’re smart and funny and so pretty, and when you tutor me in English I can’t even hear you because all I can hear is pounding in my ears because of the way you usually lean against my arm.”

 

Rin now knows what it means when people say their jaw is on the floor. He must look really stupid with his mouth hanging open, but he can’t seem to close it. He stares into green eyes that look as stunned as his own must appear. “Makoto,” he breathes out, that’s all he is able to say. He wasn’t going to confess out of a misguided sense of duty, but now that decision has been made for him. The would-be receiver of his confession feels the same way about him and possesses the courage to actually tell Rin instead of sitting on those emotions for months and then stuttering out some inevitable awkward love declaration over a video call after having too many drinks in the dorms.

 

“Makoto,” Rin repeats reverently, like a prayer, and for a moment he wonders if he’s incapable of uttering any other words. He doesn’t mind. University schooling might be tough with those three syllables alone, but that’s minutiae he is unconcerned with at the present time. Makoto likes him, and he likes Makoto, and they’ve both been too uneasy to admit that to the other, and now his train is coming in, _holy shit eleven minutes_ , and that means he’s leaving. He’s _leaving_. And Makoto is going to be right here, until he leaves too, for someplace completely separate from Rin. He’ll be in Tokyo with Haru and Sousuke and Kisumi, and he will meet new classmates and coworkers, but Rin will be 8,000 kilometers away, across the Pacific Ocean, on the other side of the world.

 

Makoto leans forward, and pulls Rin’s upper body in towards him. Rin can’t help but peer around the platform; no one pays them any mind, but he stiffens and tries to jerk back. One of his hands is let go as Makoto grabs Rin’s backpack and tugs him up from the bench they’ve been occupying for almost a half an hour, saying hardly anything, but voicing more than Rin could have ever imagined. He’s gently yanked behind a tall half wall, almost completely out of eyesight of anyone except the rare passenger who needs a one-off ticket from the machine instead of brandishing a PASMO card. 

 

Makoto leans back against the wall and Rin is practically right on top of him. They stand there like that, simply breathing each other in, Rin unsure what to do next. He knows what he wants to do, what he wants Makoto to do, but at the same time content to just absorb everything Makoto is willing to give him, like they have all the time in the world, which couldn’t be further from reality. Rin wants to cry, and as soon as he thinks about it, he feels the familiar tingling tightness in his eyes and he fixes his gaze down at the ground, desperately trying to control his fleeing composure. He can’t be a blubbering mess today, this can’t be how he leaves Makoto for, oh gods, months. Wetness paints his face as tears roll down his cheeks, this is not how a requited confession is supposed to go. 

 

A cool, smooth forehead softly nudges against his hair; Rin lifts his head so their foreheads rest together. He opens his eyes to Makoto’s mossy green ones watching him. “Don’t cry, Rin.” Makoto’s thumb comes up to smooth across his damp cheeks, wiping tears, which reappear as quickly as they are rubbed away. A strong hand lifts Rin’s chin and dry, soft lips tenderly kiss all the teardrops they can find. The warning bells signal the outbound train’s pending arrival, and Rin pulls his head back, eyes open wide in dismay. 

 

Makoto reluctantly releases Rin’s face to bend down and grab Rin’s backpack. As he hands it to him, Rin starts to spin around while shouldering his bag onto his body, desperate to walk away before he is physically incapable of boarding the train he knows he needs to be on in order to make his flight to Tokyo, to continue working towards the dream he’s been striving for his entire life. A large hand grips his arm, whirling Rin back around, and he is held at arm’s length for a beat, before being pulled in to a tight, comforting embrace. Hugging Makoto is everything he imagined it would be, protective, warm, selfless. 

 

Rin feels Makoto let him go and tip his face up towards his. A light kiss presses against his lips and Rin pushes into it, deepening it, putting his stamp on this man before he walks away. Rin steps back, Makoto lets him go. Together they walk around the wall back onto the main part of the platform. They can see the train rapidly approaching the station, and Rin takes a few steps further from his friend, his something more? They didn’t even have time to discuss anything, like what happens now, what happens next; are they a them, or are they still just Rin and Makoto, two people who happen to like each other and have no more time together to explore where that will take them.

 

“Rin,” calls Makoto, grabbing his attention like he did a short thirty minutes ago, this time from a much nearer position, closer to each other than they were before the rushed, desperate, but completely honest confession. “Travel safely. Call me when you land in Sydney, whatever time it is. We’ll talk.”

 

Rin puffs out a short laugh, despite still wanting to weep like a child who’s losing his brand new toy. “We have lots to discuss, yeah?”

 

Makoto smiles at him, rivaling the sun, eyes crinkled, hiding whatever feelings he’s burying deep inside. “I miss you already, Rin.”

 

**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried something when I was writing this one, and I realize it makes no sense given the shipping constraints of this oneshot collection (which was unintended when I wrote any of these). I was attempting to make it somewhat unclear who had come to confess to Rin, but dropping Makoto hints along the way (until Rin definitively mentions green eyes and utters his name). I hope it doesn’t read too awkwardly when there’s no question of Makoto’s identity from the get-go lol.


	4. Kissing Through the Seasons (MR)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PROMPT: Imagine Makoto and Rin having a contest on how many kisses they can steal from each other when no one is looking or paying attention. First person to get caught loses. The game goes until Sousuke calls them out on it, then Rin pulls Makoto in for a victory kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [@fandom-aesthetically](https://fandom-aesthetically.tumblr.com/), Nic thank you for the prompt! I tried a slightly different style than how I normally write (plus I think I finally nailed angst-free fluff!). <3

 

**

 

“Follow me,” whispers Rin, as he tugs on Makoto’s large hand. He is slightly jealous of the mittens his boyfriend remembered to wear, whereas Rin relies solely on his flimsy pockets. He is used to Australia and easily forgets how cold Japan gets in the winter. Rin leads Makoto up the winding path, towards the copse of trees, everything covered with a light dusting of snow. Nothing but footprints follow them to the top of the slight hill.  


 

“Weren’t you just describing how chilled you were? I believe the word Eskimo was used.” Makoto fusses, Rin thinks he should complain less so as to not cause his partner needless worry.

 

They stop under the yawning canopy of dark brown branches, sparse buds still months away from emerging. Rin presses Makoto against the rough, wide trunk of a Japanese maple tree. He pulls down the thin olive scarf with one hand, while cupping the back of Makoto’s head with the other, and leans in to press dry, slightly chapped lips softly against the welcoming mouth in front of him. Makoto’s wool-covered hands are on his waist, urging him closer, though they can’t get as close as either of them wants with the puffy down separating their bodies.

 

He steps back, breath puffing visibly between them. Makoto grips Rin’s naked hands tightly in his gloved ones, and draws him back in towards his impressive physical and emotional warmth.  


 

Rin isn’t cold anymore.

 

**

 

“I have something to show you!” Makoto bounces like an overeager child on the balls of his feet, while waiting for Rin to grab his hoodie off the back of the chair. “You’re normally gone in April.”

 

“We have a meet during Golden Week this year, I can’t make it back,” explains Rin, though he knows his boyfriend is already aware of this. He doesn’t seem as disappointed now as he did when Rin first shared his spring calendar.

 

Makoto leads the way down the sidewalk from his childhood home, towards an elementary school long in their past. He asks permission to hold Rin’s hand with his eyes, which Rin accepts after a quick glance at their surroundings. No one seems to be paying them any mind, so he gives into the public display. He wants to hold Makoto’s hand always, and hates that he needs to assess the environment before clutching it like a security blanket and never letting go.

 

They stop in front of the huge sakura tree by their former school. The grounds are abandoned on the weekend, no students or teachers wanting to be here on their precious days off.

 

“May I?” Makoto inquires shyly, ever thoughtful and gracious of Rin’s feelings. He nods his head, feeling his hair softly swish against his neck as he does so, remembering he needs to get it trimmed while he’s in town, but having trouble making the time when it takes away from moments with Makoto.

 

His boyfriend moves in front of him, places a gentle finger on his chin, and tilts Rin’s head up. “They’re in full bloom. And so are you.” He looms over Rin, eclipsing the view of the cherry blossoms, and plants his mouth on Rin’s, kissing him with passion and urgency, knowing as well as Rin does that their time in each others’ presence is fleeting. He moves his lips to tenderly kiss away the tears that are trickling down Rin’s blushing cheeks.

 

Rin is safe, happy, and warm. 

 

**

 

“Really? The blue one? Are you 6 years old?” Rin teases, but he knows the artificial blue raspberry flavor is Makoto’s favorite popsicle.

 

Makoto laughs heartily. “You just hate that my mouth is stained for the whole rest of the day. Maybe you should spend less time thinking about my tongue.”

 

Rin feels heat flood his face, as he turns to purchase the treat for his boyfriend. He chooses a lemon ice for himself, frozen confections not being anything he craves, but it’s so hot he needs something to cool himself down. Watching Makoto attack a phallic popsicle will not do the trick, so he relies on a small dish of frozen lemonade.

 

They sit side-by-side with their frozen confections on a secluded stone bench not too far from the ice cream stand. It’s not shaded, but it’s private, which is more important to both of them. Rin leaves again tomorrow and they haven’t been able to spend as much time together as they wanted to when Rin returned a week ago. He’s been running around doing errands for his mom, who’s planning Gou’s engagement party, and takes advantage of her strapping son being in town to do some of the heavy lifting. Makoto explains that he came back to Iwatobi for the week in hopes of grabbing a few elusive moments with Rin, and Rin feels like he’s let him down.

 

He glances over at Makoto, and sees a thin trail of rapidly melting blue popsicle running down a strong finger. Sharp teeth sink into a plump pink lip as he considers how he would enjoy cleaning that off. Rin lifts his eyes to Makoto’s mouth and sees a similar drip leaking from the corner of his boyfriend’s mouth. The universe clearly tells him to keep this man beside him clean, so he scoots his body over until it rests flush against Makoto’s, their damp thighs pressing together. He leans over and agonizingly slowly licks the sweet liquid off Makoto’s face, swiping a trail from his chin up to his lips. He licks his way right into the surprised mouth, as sweaty palms grip his arms and hold him close, silently begging for the kissing to continue until they resemble nothing more than the puddles of their forgotten frozen treats.

 

Rin is burning so hot, he thinks he might be on fire.

 

**

 

“Sousuke and Haru are right over there,” frets Makoto, as he stands on his tip toes to reach for an apple that eluded Rin. He grabs it and comes back down, where Rin waits with a gentle peck right below his ear. He loves how pink it makes his boyfriend’s neck when he teases him.

 

“They aren’t paying attention to what we’re doing. I’m just keeping us in empty rows so I can make out with you while we pick apples,” argues Rin, knowing Makoto loves the game Sousuke always challenges them with. “You need to kiss me too if you want to win.”

 

Makoto’s blush spreads up to his face. “I do want to kiss you but I know it’ll be me that gets caught. I always lose these games.” This makes Rin bark out his infectious guffaw.

 

“Well you won’t know if you don’t try.”

 

As a small family moves into the row with the Opals, Rin tugs Makoto into the next row, which has the less popular Granny Smiths. Rin loves them, he likes things tart and not too sweet, which is why he is always surprised he so easily fell for the man currently clasping his hand. He’s spun around unexpectedly and arms wrap around his waist, pulling him right against Makoto; he’s tipped back as his mouth is captured in a move straight out of a shoujo manga. When his boyfriend finally allows him to come up for air, Makoto’s face is glowing with either embarrassment or satisfaction, Rin isn’t sure which.

 

They move down the row, sporadically grabbing for apples to place in their shared tote, stopping every few steps to steal kisses from each other. Rin pushes Makoto under a particularly abundant apple tree, and sucks the breath right out of him while holding him against the trunk. Makoto maneuvers them so Rin is slammed against the bark. The jostling to the tree causes an apple to fall right on Rin’s head as their lips are joined together, which makes him grunt a noise of displeasure into Makoto’s mouth. The brunet jumps back in horror, apologies already tripping off his tongue, but Rin laughs so hard his knees give out at the base of the tree and they crouch there for awhile, gathering their composure.  


 

Rin has learned there is nothing Makoto loves more than seeing him unabashedly happy and generous with his laughter. He is reminded of this when Makoto forgets that small children could wander into this row of apple trees at any moment, and surges in to kiss Rin with reckless abandon, knocking him out of his crouch and onto his back. The score is tied before this spectacular display of ardor, all caution thrown to the wind. Rin lies on fallen apples, one hand roaming along his side, while the other cups the back of his head to keep it protected from the ground. Rin forgets where they are and loses himself in the moment, arching up into Makoto, clutching at his shoulders, keeping him from pulling away.

 

A throat is cleared somewhere behind Makoto, Rin can’t see. However, he knows the deep rumbling voice that follows, and he is brought back to reality.

 

“Guys. It’s an apple orchard. There are children around,” scolds Sousuke, although there is no bite to his bark, there never is. Haru stands off to his side, looking at his two best friends with amusement.

 

Haru’s mouth lifts in a hint of a smile. “How do you always lose this game, Makoto?”

 

Rin’s younger self would feel awkward or humiliated, his face flaming hot, skin prickling with shame. Content in a relationship with a person he admires, loves, and respects, he instead basks in the warmth that is offered to him without him ever having to ask for it. Makoto’s sunshine fills him and surrounds him with love and light. He wins this silly kissing game, like he usually does, but the real prize is Makoto. He pulls his boyfriend back down to him to share the victory, and continues where they left off; there is no losing when they are together.

 

**

 


	5. Heartbreak in the Hospital (SH)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PROMPT: What if Sousuke has a health scare and is afraid to tell ~~Rin~~ Haru

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I turned this anon one from what I imagine was intended as SR into SH because that's how I'm rolling with these prompts, although I tried to still fill the heart of the prompt and include Rin.

 

**

 

 _Well shit_. 

 

Sousuke is fairly certain at twenty-three years old he is not supposed to be having acute chest pains but it feels like an exercise resistance band is wrapped around his body, squeezing and compressing him into a mild panic. Haru is gone at a tournament in Beijing, and will be for the remainder of the week, which means he’s not currently in their flat nor even in the country. This might be a blessing in disguise as whether or not Haru is any good at crisis management is not information Sousuke is privy to, yet, he knows he could lean on his partner for anything at any time and find an unshakable wall of support keeping him upright.

 

Sousuke also knows he should call someone, but there aren’t many people he cares to burden with this turn of events. Really, there aren’t many people he wants to see him as anything less than the literal pillar of strength he purportedly is. His best friend, who is with his boyfriend in China, and is ironically closer in distance than he typically is since he’s in Australia for at least eight months out of the year, is his ideal choice for crisis management. Rin’s absence leaves only one other person besides his mother who he will allow to see him at this moment of weakness. 

 

Sousuke heaves himself out of the easy chair in which he’s been reclining, and fumbles for his phone. As he reaches across his body towards the coffee table, a sharp pain shoots down his arm and brings him to his knees with an anguished curse. He manages to get his arm up high enough, without passing out from agony, to smack at the phone until it falls on the ground next to him. Trying to take deep breaths but his body unwilling to allow him to do more than shallowly gasp for air, he scrolls through his contacts to locate Makoto. He’s in the first grade classroom right now, busy with students, but due to the nature of his and Rin’s relationship and his tendency to be a thorough worrywart, he always keeps his phone nearby in case of emergency.

 

 _This must count_ , thinks Sousuke, although he feels a small twinge of guilt over disturbing his friend at work. _Fuck, this is pathetic_. He clicks the green phone icon and lays down to talk into the phone so he doesn’t have to lift his arm again. When he shifts to his side, he whimpers because for a second he can’t breathe and the constriction on his heart intensifies to a point he wants to give up and weep. 

 

“Sousuke?” Makoto’s warm voice travels across the air waves and immediately brings his anxiety down one notch. “Is everything alright?”

 

He doesn’t really want to have to force his body to do anything right now, which includes talking, but now that he’s got the man on the phone he has to do something. “I need help. I think I have to get to a doctor.”

 

“Do you need me to call 119?”

 

Sousuke wonders if his voice sounds as breathy and weak and helpless as it echoes within his own head. “Shit, I didn’t even think of calling emergency, fuck, I’ll do that, go back to work.”

 

“I’m coming home. Call 119 if you need emergency services before I get there.” Makoto promptly hangs up on him and Sousuke is back to being alone with a vice grip around his heart. He lays down and tries to calm down while he waits for Makoto to arrive back home. 

 

He briefly toys with alerting Haru and Rin to what’s going on, but dismisses that thought as quickly as it enters. Rin is perfect in the moment, maintaining a cool head and letting logic prevail over panic, keeping relevant details organized while still exuding the compassion that isn’t always visible to those who don’t know him well. But from a distance there’s nothing he can do, and there is nothing worse for his best friend than feeling helpless and isolated. And Haru. Sousuke may not know exactly how he’d be in an emergency situation, thankfully they haven’t had any since they’ve been together, but he knows how he’d feel if something happened to Haru and he couldn’t get to him. A pang he’s positive has nothing to do with whatever the hell is going on with his failing body shoots through him as imagery of his boyfriend in pain and alone won’t leave his mind. _Fuck._ They’re both gonna kill him for his silence if this problem doesn’t accomplish that first. 

**

When Makoto finally comes storming through the door, Sousuke is drenched in sweat and curled into the fetal position on the living room floor. He tries to lift his head but all he can manage is lifting his line of sight from Makoto’s feet to his shins, although he swears he sees four shins.

 

“Alright,” begins Makoto calmly and authoritatively. Sousuke appreciates the tone, and not for the first time is reminded of why his roommate is such a skilled teacher. “I brought reinforcements and I don’t want any arguments from you.” 

 

This explains the four shins, and although Sousuke is unhappy that some stranger is witnessing him in such a vulnerable state, his give-a-fuck meter matches his range of motion in that it has plummeted dramatically since this ordeal began. 

 

“Sousuke, are you ready?” A very familiar voice rings through the flat, before an even more familiar face swoops down into his vision. “We’re going to carry you down to Makoto’s car with as little jostling as possible. I’m glad I was at the school today volunteering and could come help!”

 

“Kisumi, I’m glad you here,” grumbles Sousuke, in no mood to chit chat, but senses even his childhood friend knows now is not the moment for reminiscing. Talking is getting more and more uncomfortable, and he grits his teeth as four strong hands lift him slowly, and as gently as possible bring him down to the car. They roll him into the snug back seat and take off for the local hospital, Makoto driving as cautiously as Sousuke can ever remember. The two men in the front are talking in hushed voices, and he is happy to tune them out and roll around in pain on the bench seat. 

 

When Makoto pulls into the drop off lane at the hospital, Kisumi sprints out of the car before it has even rolled to a complete stop. Makoto comes around and opens the door by his head. “Kisumi went in to get help, they’ll bring a stretcher which should be more comfortable for you than us lugging you around. I texted Haru and told him to call me as soon as he has a chance.”

 

Blind fear whites out Sousuke’s vision for a second. “What?” He hisses back at Makoto. “I didn’t say to contact him.”

 

Makoto rears back, confusion written all over his face. “Why wouldn’t you contact him? I had no idea you were trying to hide this.”

 

“I’m not hiding it from him,” growls Sousuke. His chest is hurting even more as his agitation increases. 

 

“How are you not hiding it from him if you aren’t telling him?” Apparently, Makoto is serious about getting into a semantic debate right now. His patience and pain-tolerance are at a near-zero and he needs to stop talking to his angelic roommate before he throttles him, which he might once he can lift his arms above shoulder height without soul-crushing pain. 

 

“Just leave it,” gasps Sousuke. “Promise you won’t tell Haru any details.” He can’t get anything else out because he’s getting light-headed and having trouble breathing, the band around his chest pulling even tighter. He’s honestly surprised his rib cage hasn’t been compressed into dust. He thinks he hears Makoto agree to the promise but the sound is fuzzy. He feels multiple hands on him, hears people count to three, feels himself shifted onto a flatter horizontal surface, as the sun hits his face. He recalls he’s at the hospital which allows him to finally relax enough that he can’t remember anything else as darkness overtakes him. 

**

Sousuke cracks open his eyes and notices before anything else that the rubber band feeling in his chest is diminished. He takes a deep breath and is so relieved that it doesn’t hurt, he wants to weep tears in Rin-levels of abundance. He lets out a soft sob, thankful he’s alone. 

 

“There’s a sound I’ve never heard you make before.” 

 

Sousuke snaps his head up so fast to locate the source of the voice he thinks he can add whiplash to his list of ailments. “When did you get here? _How_ did you get here?”

 

A quiet snort sounds deafening. “Through the magic of air travel.”

 

 _What the fuck?_ Sousuke closes his eyes and focuses on just breathing. There’s no way Haru is actually sitting in his hospital room sassing him after he suffered what felt like a heart attack, although he has no idea what the hell actually happened to him. He needs to speak to a doctor. Despite being convinced there’s not actually anyone in the room with him, he keeps talking. “I hate hospitals.”

 

“That’s the first thing Rin mentioned when he told me you were in one,” comments Haru, moving from the hard seat by the window over to the edge of the bed. He sits gingerly on the side and turns his head to face Sousuke. “Why is it that Makoto felt like he needed to call Rin and instruct him to tell me that you needed to go to the hospital with chest pains?” 

 

“What?” Sousuke doesn’t follow all that exactly, but knows how Makoto got around not telling Haru. Directly. 

 

“You made Makoto promise not to call me?” Haruka is hurt. Sousuke is an idiot but even he can discern that much. 

 

“I didn’t want to bother you,” mumbles Sousuke, wishing he could avoid this conversation, hearing how lame and thin his excuse sounds, and it’s the best one he’s got. “You were too far away to do anything and you were busy competing.”

 

“It’s almost as though what I do for a living is important to mankind. I would hate to disrupt me too for something so tedious.” Okay no, Haru is not hurt. Haru is fucking livid. 

 

A doctor knocks and enters the room, pausing when she sees Haru. “Excuse me, Yamazaki-san. I need to talk with you about all your test results and what happened yesterday.”

 

“Yesterday.” That means Sousuke was unconscious for almost a full day. He peeks over at Haru who is sitting as stoically as ever, back on the chair by the window. 

 

“Yes, let’s see,” begins the doctor, flipping through his chart. “You were admitted at 2:13 in the afternoon, already unconscious at that time. Your companions explained you were having chest pain and trouble breathing, but heart issues are rare in someone of your age bracket. However, we hate to rule anything out without testing for it. We ran an EKG as well as a blood analysis for elevated enzyme levels, cholesterol, and triglycerides. Everything came back completely clear, which confirms this is not a heart issue. Your roommate who brought you in stated that you have had no recent viral or bacterial illnesses of any kind that he was aware of, further we saw no elevated white blood cell count in your blood analysis, which rules out a few other problems that could cause debilitating chest pain.”

 

“So what could it be, if everything is being ruled out?” Sousuke tries to ask and not demand, but he cannot deal with mystery chest pains like yesterday if they become a frequent occurrence. 

 

“Well, I have another idea but I needed to wait until you regained consciousness to discuss it with you and we need you awake for these tests. I suspect GERD, or gastroesophageal reflux disease. When left untreated for awhile, a severe bout can mimic mild heart attack symptoms if a patient isn’t aware of the issue or what to make note of. There are some marked differences however. So you have a couple of choices in regards to what test you’d like run to screen for GERD.”

 

Sousuke listens to his options, none of which sound grand, but he needs to choose one so he picks the one that is the least invasive. Though it involves drinking something foul, it doesn’t require anything to be inserted into his throat. After the doctor departs, he turns to Haru, still solemnly perched by the window. 

 

“I’m much less high maintenance than Rin.” Haru states, resuming their conversation before being interrupted. “But you didn’t make Makoto promise to not tell him. Plus, you have to know there’s no way either of them could sit on a secret this big and not crack if your name so much as came up. Rin was practically sobbing into his salad when he told me.”

 

“I wasn’t really thinking straight, alright? I made a shit decision which I could blame on pain or fear, but I won’t. I did think about how horrible I’d feel if you were hurt and I couldn’t do anything to help you or even get to you.” Sousuke fists the sheets on his bed. He deserves Haru’s anger, but he at least needs to him to understand how Sousuke made his decision, that his goal wasn’t some misguided attempt to protect him from the gravity of the situation or keep him in the dark due to some false sense of pride.

 

“I wish I’d been here when it happened.” Haru moves back to the edge of the hospital bed, his face more relaxed, his eyes less guarded. “I’m glad Makoto was here though, he’s good in emergencies. I’m sorry you had to face Kisumi though, especially with only Makoto as protection.”

 

Sousuke snorts out a tiny laugh, not only at the disdain his boyfriend continues to show for his old friend, but the overwhelming relief that he has been at least somewhat forgiven for his error in judgment. He makes a grab for Haru’s hand. “Would you have told me?” They have been dating for quite some time, but nothing like this has ever entered either of their minds, which kept it away from their discussions as well. 

 

Haru is deep in thought for long enough that Sousuke wonders if there is more that he _should have_ considered in this situation. Haru used to be a challenge to decipher but Sousuke thinks he’s cracked most of the code. Perhaps for his boyfriend, he is the much bigger tangle of thread that needs to be sorted and wound on the proper spool. He hopes he’d be the first person that would get notified, even if he couldn’t do anything. He closes his eyes and lowers his chin to chest, as the knowledge that he made every stupid decision possible sears itself into his brain. 

 

Not only did Sousuke fail to keep the person he thinks of as his partner apprised of the very important turn his health took yesterday, he forced his two best friends into uncomfortable positions, lying for him and delivering his horrible news. Shame blooms within him, causing a very different type of chest pain than he felt a day earlier. He smashes the button down on the bed controls so he is sitting up fully and reaches for Haru’s other hand once he’s upright.

 

“I’m sorry.” Those aren’t enough words to atone for the worry and fear he must have caused. “Haru, I should have told you. I got it all wrong.”

 

“I forgive you. I don’t think my best when I’m in pain either. You were dealing with a lot.” Haru maneuvers his hands out of Sousuke’s grasp, and uncharacteristically lunges forward to wrap him in a hug instead. Sousuke sags in relief at the feeling of being held and supported by Haru. 

 

“I wish you’d been here yesterday. I could have used you,” admits Sousuke. “You’d have kept me in line.”

 

Haru hums. “Anything would have been better than being trapped helplessly on an airplane with your best friend who was convinced you were dying. I couldn't do anything to convince him otherwise. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him cry that hard.”

 

“Yeah. Probably not since the last person he dealt with dying,” mumbles Sousuke, frowning before clearing his throat, needing to not think too hard about those particular memories. Sifting through the emotions of one heavy thing at a time is enough for him. “Speaking of best friends, yours is a rock. No wonder he can handle a classroom of rowdy kids.”

 

“We’ve got good people,” states Haru with a small smile, arms still firmly holding onto Sousuke, who nods into his shoulder. 

 

“We do,” agrees Sousuke easily. “But I’ve gotta tell you, Nanase...”

 

Haru nudges Sousuke’s head off his shoulder and pulls back far enough to gaze curiously into his eyes. “What?”

 

“I’m pretty sure I’ve got the best person.”

 

**

 


	6. Dinner Disappointment and Disaster (MR)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PROMPT: Makoto tries to cook for Rin but ends up burning everything, Rin shows his appreciation by taking a few bites before deciding to take Makoto out to dinner instead. Bonus Points!!! if they're young and hella awkward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awkward high school kids it is!
> 
> For [@fandom-aesthetically](https://fandom-aesthetically.tumblr.com/), thanks for another prompt Nic, this one was really fun! I don't write any of them in high school very often.

 

**

 

Makoto opens the door to the grinning redhead he has been waiting for all day. “You bring your appetite?” 

 

“Of course!” Rin smiles so wide Makoto fears for his face’s structural integrity. “Although, Haru teased me when I was leaving the pool. He said I’d learn more about you on tonight’s date, than our other nine dates combined. Is there something I should be aware of on magic date number ten?”

 

Makoto silently curses his best friend, just a little, as he assumes what he was implying with his comment to Rin. He forces out a chuckle, which sounds to his own ears like a strangled cat. “Oh! I don’t know, I didn’t even realize it’s our tenth date.”

 

“Are you okay?” Rin peers at him, concerned. Makoto frantically nods like a demented bobble head doll, as he sees Rin unveil a pastry box from behind his back. “I brought this for dessert for you.”

 

He takes the white box and lifts the lid on a small shareable cake overflowing with dark chocolate curls piled on the top. “This looks delicious! But what about you?”

 

Rin shrugs with one shoulder. “What about me? I’m sure I’ll be full after eating a great dinner. You had me at beef, which I think is what you said you’d be making?”

 

“Yes! Beef. Stroganoff. I found a recipe and, umm, I know you don’t mind expanding beyond Japanese dishes,” babbles Makoto, insecurities flooding his brain. Why had he thought this was a good idea? Why didn’t he take Haru up on his offer of doing the cooking and allowing Makoto to take the credit? Rin thinks he’s going to get a satisfying meal and doesn’t eat sweets so there is literally nothing for his hunger if Makoto doesn’t get this right. He hears a noise from the kitchen.

 

“Did you hear that, Makoto?” Rin asks as he tries to peer around Makoto’s awkward bulk, which still hovers in front of his date. He moves out of the way, feeling clumsy and inadequate. 

 

“Oh! Ah, let me go check on the noodles!” He hustles to the kitchen, praying Rin will not follow him, opting instead to stand in the entryway until Makoto is positive he won’t destroy his parents kitchen. Loitering in people’s front halls seems like something Rin would enjoy. As he spins on his heel, he senses the redhead right behind him. “Rin! Why don’t you head to the living room?” 

 

Rin grabs a hold of his upper arm, pausing his progress towards the noodles, which are still making a suspicious noise. “Are you sure you’re okay? Anything I can help with?”

 

“No no, you go relax, Rin. I have everything under control!” Makoto rips his arm away from his boyfriend and tries to not sprint the remaining few steps towards the room of his demise. If the kitchen is the heart of the home, and a home-cooked meal is the way to a man’s heart, Makoto will be dead and single in under an hour. He hears Rin start to say something and cuts him off sharply. “Go sit down!”

 

Rin moves past the kitchen and Makoto loses track of his movements because he has just seen what the strange sounds are. The pot on the stove is bubbling over, starchy water seeping slowly over the sides of his mother’s biggest steel pot, gathering in a pool around the gas flame, threatening to extinguish it. He checks the timer to see how much longer the flame needs to hold out despite the deluge, and sees a cheery 07:31pm on the stove clock, instead of any kind of countdown. Makoto groans loudly, knowing he forgot to set the timer. He has no idea how long the noodles have been submerged in the boiling water. 

 

“Makoto?” Rin calls out from another room. “Are you sure-”

 

“Everything is under control! I just tasted the sauce, it’s so good, I couldn’t help making a noise, don’t mind me!” Makoto is positive he saved that, Rin likely to just ignore what’s going on and amuse himself with something he finds in the living room. Makoto has no idea what he’ll find in there but it’s got to be better than anything going on in here, as Makoto continues his death march to dinner. He gazes at the sauce, muses it might not be a terrible idea to give it a taste. He’d gotten that halfway done and simmering before Rin’s arrival. He gathers the onion mixture he made first with chopped onions, mushrooms, and garlic, sautéed until soft in butter, that he had been instructed to set aside and add after the broth simmers. 

 

Makoto peeks under the lid at the broth that’s been on low heat and a rush of steam envelopes his face. When he regains his vision, he sees the skillet is almost completely empty. There is a thick layer of....something coating the bottom of the pan, but nothing that resembles the stock and Worcestershire sauce he’s put in there. He’s positive he added those ingredients, even Makoto can keep track of two ingredients. He shakes his head, and assumes this is the result of fifteen minutes of a low simmer. He scrapes his cooled and cooked onion mixture into the skillet and stirs to combine. He can barely get the wooden spoon through the bottom of the pan, the thick sludge proving quite resistant to movement. He puts a little more muscle into it and the wooden spoon cracks in half, the spoon portion sailing through the air and hitting the cabinet across the room with a thwack. 

 

_My mother is going to kill me_ , thinks Makoto before finding another wooden spoon in the drawer. He places it next to the skillet; he doesn’t want to break another utensil trying to work it through the sauce. He finds the recipe he’d printed out, and peers down at it to locate the next step. Just as he discovers that he needs to brown the ground beef, Rin steps into the kitchen. 

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“Are you sure I can’t help?” Rin asks, but to Makoto’s ears it sounds like he’s on the verge of begging. Makoto wants nothing more than take his boyfriend up on his offer, someone who can probably whip up meals as easily as he churns through the water with his butterfly, so he can go take up residence on the couch instead and nap before dinner. “And did I hear something break?”

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“Oh no,” Makoto dismisses Rin with a misleading wave of his hand. “It’s all good in here. We’ll be eating in no time!” 

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Rin stares at him for a beat, head tilted to the side and eyebrow cocked. “Can I watch?”

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A wave of panic threatens to drag Makoto under. _No!_ His brain screams at him, convinced Rin will never return to another date with him if he is allowed to bear witness to Makoto’s gross inadequacies in the kitchen. This is a spectacular show but not one he wants Rin to see and he is completely unsure how to turn him away. “Ummm, well-”

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“Nevermind, Makoto. I’ll just go hang out by myself,” concedes Rin, without even a flicker of hurt passing over his face, Makoto convinces himself. Rin doesn’t mind being alone, he was alone all of middle school so a few more minutes of solitude will be fine, just fine. Makoto recalls how loneliness ate up Rin in Australia and spit him back out in Japan while he watches Rin’s back move further away, and wants nothing more than to abandon all hope of dinner and go cuddle with Rin on the couch. Guilt settles like a rock in his stomach but he forces himself to finish what he started, he is not a quitter. 

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Makoto tosses the ground beef into the thick sludgy broth and onion mixture, and cranks the heat up so it cooks. He reasons more heat is a good thing so he slams the cover on top of the skillet so things keep moving along as quickly as possible. He turns to the refrigerator to pull out the sour cream and the cup of beef stock he was instructed to save, both of which need to be added after the beef cooks. Now he waits.

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Wondering what Rin is doing, Makoto steps into the living room. He spies the redhead curled in on himself on the window seat, arms hugging his legs tightly to his chest, with his knees pillowing his chin, as he gazes out at the uninspiring view of his neighbor’s house. “Rin?”

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Rin turns his head slightly, eyebrows drawn together, mouth turned down slightly, quite different from the expression he’d greeted Makoto with. When Makoto doesn’t say anything, it isn’t time to call his date to the table yet, Rin scoffs and goes back to glaring out the window. 

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Makoto isn’t sure what’s gotten Rin frustrated, but he doesn’t like the look on his face, which reminds him far too much of how that face looked throughout the previous year of school, before the sacrificial relay. He worries at his lip, concerned about Rin, who looks to be sinking into troubling thoughts, like the ones that threatened to drown him at least once before. The lid on the stroganoff pan lifts off the rim with a trickle of liquid and a clang. Makoto squeaks and hurries over to the stove.

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When he checks on the progress, it looks like the beef is mostly cooked, at least, it’s no longer got the raw pink color it had before, instead taking on a more unassuming shade of grayish-brown. Makoto pours in the sour cream and remaining broth and gives everything a quick stir. It’s a little thin but it looks like a sauce that can be poured over noodles. _Noodles!_ Sure that they must be done cooking by now, Makoto yanks a colander out of the cabinet and drops it into the sink. He covers his hands with pot holders and drains the noodles, many if which are sticking to the bottom of the pot. He takes his unbroken wooden spoon and scrapes them off, adding what now resembles a ball of wet dough, to the minuscule pile of steaming noodles. 

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Nodding to himself at his accomplishment, he grabs plates and chopsticks and takes them out to the dining room table. He rushes back to the kitchen to grab glasses and a pitcher of barley tea and some trivets, and throws those on the table as well. Finally, he relocates the noodles and stroganoff to acceptable serving dishes, and calls for Rin to join him at the table. 

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Rin slowly slinks into the dining room, looking more timid than Makoto ever wants to see him appear, and glares questioningly at Makoto. “Is there someplace I’m supposed to sit?” 

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Waving his hand in the general vicinity of the table, he answers honestly. “Anywhere you want is fine.” Then he scurries to the kitchen to bring his masterpiece out for the big reveal. He expects to feel a surge of pride as he carries his dish, but something isn’t sitting right in his gut. He can’t get the image of Rin pulling himself out of the way, hunched on the window seat, looking lost and upset, out of his mind. He reverently sets down the stroganoff and the noodles, and takes the seat directly across from Rin. 

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All thoughts of his accomplishment fly out of Makoto’s brain when he glances across the table at Rin staring blankly down at the table, eyes brimming with unshed tears. “Rin?”

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His boyfriend lifts his head, locking eyes with Makoto, and the look in his eyes makes Makoto’s heart hurt. This isn’t right, this isn’t the same effusive, confident, animated man that entered this house an hour ago. Rin opens his mouth to speak, but decides against it and snaps it back shut before turning away and looking at the unoccupied chair next to Makoto.

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He tries again. “Rin, are you okay? Did something happen? Did you get bad news?”

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Incredulous, Rin snaps his eyes back at Makoto. “Did something happen?”

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“Yes,” urges Makoto. “You seemed fine before, now you’re upset. What happened?”

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“I’ve spent the night ignored and brushed aside like you don’t even want me here. I can understand you wanted to make the dinner all your own, if anyone gets the concept of working towards a goal and achieving it without assistance, it’s me. But you didn’t even want me in the same room with you. Why am I even here?” Once Rin starts, he finds it hard to stop and the words batter Makoto, effectively crushing his triumph and reminding him there are two people in this relationship.

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“I don’t know what to say,” murmurs Makoto, unsure if Rin can even hear him. For the first time that evening, he reaches out towards Rin, making any kind of contact, physical or emotional.

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Rin grips his proffered hand and shakes his head. “I love that you wanted to do something that you clearly aren’t comfortable doing and I love that you felt confident enough about it to see it through. Hell, I love that you thought about yourself first instead of me.”

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Makoto watches him, waiting to hear what else he has to say. How he’s getting praised right now, when he was the one who let Rin down tonight, is beyond him. For years, teachers and friends and parents have called Makoto selfless and kind, but the person sitting across from him could teach most people a lesson in grace and generosity.

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Rin bites his lip and shrugs one shoulder. “I just wanted to spend time with you. Even if you didn’t know what you were doing, I wouldn’t have made fun of you or anything. I like you too much to act like that level of asshole.”

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“I like you too, Rin! I’m so sorry I ignored you, that...wasn’t what I was trying to do.” Makoto stumbles through an apology. “I wanted to impress you. And my cooking process would definitely not impress you. In fact, it’s best you don’t go in the kitchen still, it’s like a war zone in there. Remember how you described living with Nitori?”

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Rin snorts out a laugh. “Yeah, like my own personal episode of Hoarders: Buried Alive.”

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“Well, this is your sequel,” declares Makoto, sure of not much at the moment beyond how much the state of his parent’s kitchen would horrify Rin. “Don’t worry, I’ll scale the mountains of garbage to get to the cake.”

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“Who cares about dessert? Let’s see what you created here first. It smells good, that’s the first step.” Rin says, looking confident in his boyfriend’s prowess. His stomach lets out a loud growl of hunger. “See? I smell decent food and my body reacts, consider it the first of many compliments.”

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Makoto isn’t so sure about the reality of that last statement, but lifts the lid on the stroganoff; it’s now or never. They both lean forward, elbows supporting their weight, and peer into the freshly unveiled skillet. It has definitely gotten lumpier and runnier since he last looked at it. How is that even possible ? He peeks up at Rin to gauge his reaction. Rin wears his Japanese history expression, facing something he strongly dislikes but knows he has to power through it anyway in order to level up. He glances up and Makoto wonders if he has the same grim determination on his own face. 

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Rin grabs for the spoon and places a glob of noodles on his plate. “What types of noodles are these? 

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“Fettucine, I think,” replies Makoto, having memorized the name on the box. “At least, they began their lives as fettucine. Half the family turned into one giant siamese twin of noodle dough, but there’s still some individual noodles if you hunt through the bowl.”

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Rin shakes his head. “No this giant clump of pasta is fine. It’s just a vehicle for the sauce, right? The sauce still smells amazing, Makoto.”

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Makoto hums in agreement. It does smell quite nice, which reinforces the fact that he didn’t burn anything, an issue which Haru had warned him about multiple times. “Here, let me dish it up for you.” Rin hands him his plate, and Makoto scoops a healthy portion on top of it, watching it slide off the ball o’ noodle and surround it like an ocean flowing around a doughy outcrop. He imagines the clumps of beef are large predator fish like blue mackerel and sea bream, and the mushy onions and mushrooms are tiny bait fish, swimming in the runny sauce. 

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Rin takes his plate back with polite gratitude, and stares at Makoto while he serves himself the same portion. They join chopsticks across the table. “Cheers!” Two voices ring out with enthusiasm, then cease all motion, waiting for the other to dig in first. 

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Glancing once more at Makoto, Rin throws his shoulders back and nods. He lifts a bite of food, puts it in his mouth, chews thoughtfully, and swallows. He squints at Makoto, who has yet to try the food, and goes in for another morsel. Makoto watches him eat three more mouthfuls before remembering he is supposed to be indulging as well. He takes a generous bite and it takes all his self-control not to spit it back out onto his plate. He peeks up at his dinner companion and is shocked and horrified to find him still resolutely eating this sorry excuse of a meal. 

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“Rin, stop!” Makoto utilizes his youth swim coach voice of authority, which has the desired effect of the redhead dropping his chopsticks like they’ve personally offended him. Given what they’ve just been force-feeding into his mouth, they probably have. “You don’t have to do this.”

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“But Makoto, this is the dinner you’ve made.” Rin picks his utensils back up to resume the torture disguised as a meal.

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“No,” insists Makoto. “I’m not insulted. Well that’s not true, I mean, I’m insulted by this food, but not insulted by you if you stop eating it. You don’t have anything to prove. Not to me, not ever. You’re enough, exactly as you are, with or without this gutrot sitting in your stomach.”

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Without another word, Rin gets up from the table. He leaves the dining room and Makoto can’t tell if he’s, understandably, headed to the bathroom, or somewhere else in the house. When he returns, he thrusts one of Makoto’s shirts at him. “Here. Change into this. You have flour all over the shirt you’re wearing now. Then please let me take you out to dinner. You’ve earned it after slaving over a meal all afternoon.”

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“I’d hardly call it a meal,” argues Makoto, already working the soiled shirt over his head. As he is about to put the clean one on, he notices Rin staring shamelessly at his torso. 

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“I can think of other meals.” Rin winks. Makoto flushes and rapidly tugs on the top to cover his body. “What? I see you half naked at every joint practice already.”

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“This is different and you know it. And if you don’t agree, then let’s get you out of that dress shirt and and see if you can handle me ogling you, hmm?” Makoto steps towards Rin and untucks his shirt, running his hand along the hem. “Shall I take it off?”

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Predictably, Rin’s face blushes pink and his eyes widen, while he takes a step back. “You win, you win!” Makoto approaches him again, this time using both his hands to latch onto Rin’s waist, no teasing in his actions. He slides his hands around slightly onto Rin’s back in order to tug his boyfriend even closer, as he leans his head in towards Rin’s ear. 

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“Can I kiss you before we go out to dinner?” Makoto murmurs, seeing his breath move wispy crimson strands of hair. Rin nods his assent and lifts his chin and Makoto turns his head to meet him halfway. Their lips join together with a soft press, that deepens smoothly into something more intense and heated the longer they kiss. After finally surfacing for air, Makoto decides swimming is good for more than teamwork and redemption, as he enjoys the view of Rin with swollen lips and glazed over eyes. “We should go if we want to eat.”

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“We really should,” pants Rin, before he’s drawn back into Makoto’s mouth. Several minutes later, slightly more disheveled and out of breath, they break apart and decide they really need to leave if they want to eat something that isn’t each other’s faces. 

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After making Makoto promise that he would let Rin help clean up the kitchen, Rin grabs for him so they can walk down the street hand-in-hand. Makoto gazes at him fondly, still filled with a little surprise that it’s him who Rin was attracted to, it’s him who Rin wants to spend his precious free time with, it’s him who makes Rin breathless with kisses, it’s him who Rin chokes down inedible food for.

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Makoto squeezes Rin’s hand a little tighter. 

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“What’s that for?” Rin inquires as he glances over at Makoto with a grin.

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“For eating like a dozen bites of that disgusting stroganoff. I love you,” chuckles out Makoto before realizing what he’s said. He comes to a standstill when he feels resistance on his arm, Rin having stopped a couple steps sooner. He spins around to rejoin his boyfriend and stands right in front of him. 

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Rin breathes out a laugh and shakes his head. “I thought telling each other we’re in love would be more momentous, like there’d be fireworks or heart palpitations or something. But you know what? I like this, exactly how it’s happening. Because Makoto, I love you too, and I don’t think I knew that until right now.” He reaches forward to clutch at Makoto’s other hand as well. “You know how I know?”

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Makoto could listen to Rin explain anything all day and be happy. “How?”

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Rin smiles at him and looks up affectionately through long eyelashes. “Because there is absolutely no other being on this planet that could have gotten me to put even one spoonful of that in my mouth. But for you, I’d have asked for seconds.”

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**

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	7. Dating Haru (SH)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PROMPT: couple A plays cupid for couple B

 

**

 

Haru rolls the air out of the last of the inflatables, stands up, and places it carefully next to the other vinyl animal rolls on the shelf in the storage closet of the swim club. The going away party at the pool was a success, and everyone else has already gone ahead to continue the revelry at the local sushi cafe to fuel up before an evening of karaoke. Haru chose to stay behind to help Coach Sasabe and Miss Amakata clean up. Rin had offered first, but got promptly scolded for not being allowed to lift a finger for his own celebration and was threatened with being forcibly removed from the premises by Makoto. In a flash of recognition that he could use a few moments to regroup and enjoy some silence, Haru had pulled Rin aside and said he would stay back to set things to rights after the festive chaos. He desperately wants more time with Rin, but the Australian-bound swimmer needs to dole himself out to everyone who helped make today a possibility. Not to mention, if anyone is getting special individual attention from Rin before his departure, it’s certainly not Haru who will be on the receiving end of it. Thinking of the person who will get Rin’s final farewell causes the corner of his mouth to lift as he recalls how very long it took the two of them to confess to each other, both separately turning to Haru for advice and a shoulder to cry on for months during their infatuated confusion.

 

He heads out the door, closing it behind him, and turns directly into a solid wall of muscle. “Excuse me,” mumbles Haru, before peering up, already pretty sure whose face he’ll find based on the fact the firm body in front of him hadn’t budged with the collision. 

 

“I should've gotten out of the way,” explains Sousuke, arms full, stepping back so Haru can pass. He watches Haru with softer eyes than Haru can recall ever seeing on his face. Usually the teal color is laser-focused and intense when following his best friend’s progress in the water, wary when fondly observing the younger swimmers from Samezuka, or irritated whenever they focus in his direction. This expression is new though, one that seems out of place but not unpleasant. It makes Haru relax his own features from the automatic scowl that fills his face whenever Sousuke is nearby. “I wasn’t trying to crowd you.”

 

“It’s fine. I wasn’t paying attention.” Haru scoots to the side, walking around Sousuke’s bulk in order to locate the adults and inform them that everything from the pool area is clean and ready for classes the next day. 

 

A tanned hand grabs his arm, causing Haru to stop and turn back. “I have to put this stack of towels in the closet and then I’m heading out.” Haru lifts his eyebrows, wondering what this has to do with him. Sousuke peers back at him, expectant. Then he scoffs and shakes his head. “Let’s walk over to Sushi-Go-Round together.”

 

Haru doesn’t stop to ponder this unusual request before answering. “Okay.” He waits for the other to deposit the towels and return to the hallway, before they walk to the exit together, stopping only briefly on the way to tell the two adults they’ve completed their tasks. “I didn’t know anyone else had stayed behind.”

 

Sousuke shrugs his broad shoulders and glances his way, only to quickly look away when they make eye contact. “Tachibana said it would stress Rin out if it stayed messy and asked if I’d be willing to pitch in since no one else was doing it.”

 

Haru frowns. “Rin knew I was staying to help.”

 

“That doesn’t mean Tachibana knew.” Sousuke stuffs his hands in his pockets, staring around intently at everything they walk past that isn’t in Haru’s direction. 

 

Haru stares incredulously at the other. “Since they got together, how many secrets do you think they have between them?

 

Sousuke barks out a laugh. “They don’t even have air between them most of the time, much less secrets. At least you don’t live with one of them.” Haru may not technically live with either of their best friends but he’s seen enough to know exactly what Sousuke means. In fact, over the last few months, on the nights the three of them have been theoretically studying at his house, Haru spends more time watching the two of them discover each other in their burgeoning relationship, desperate to get their fill in the waning moments of high school. They forget there’s a third person in their presence quite easily, along with textbooks, due dates, and any sense of shame, all of which also escape their hormonal minds. It really doesn’t bother him, usually. Haru drew their attention to him one time recently when he heard a sound he hadn’t heard Makoto make in all the years they’ve known each other, and he saw Rin’s hand was conveniently tucked into the back of Makoto’s pants. They both flushed red and apologized and all three were able to get back to studying for the night, although then Haru saw hidden smiles and fluttering eyelashes and bitten bottom lips, basically enough flirty pining to last him the rest of his life. He almost told them to just head to his bedroom but figured that would embarrass them and he didn’t want to do that.

 

“No, I don’t,” agrees Haru finally. “I’m sure you’ve seen more than you want to.”

 

Sousuke proceeds to tell Haru about last weekend when Makoto came over to their dorm room for some advice about transitioning the team from one captain to the next. In an effort to be charitable, Sousuke chose to go out on his second run of the day to give them some privacy. He explains how he regretted that he forgot his earbuds in his desk drawer because when he returned to the room, Rin and Makoto were already well into exchanging captain tips and trade secrets on the bottom bunk. “It’s hard to look at Tachibana the same way when you’ve heard him yowling like a cat in heat just because Rin’s chomping on his nipples.” Sousuke gazes thoughtfully at Haru. “Does Tachibana have a biting kink?”

 

“I don’t know.” Haru blinks in consideration for a moment before shaking his head. “I think I understand now why you stayed to help clean up after the party.”

 

“Nah”, argues Sousuke lightly. “I don’t really mind. It took them long enough to get their shit together and then they got together even with an expiration date on it. I’m actually happier hearing the dying whale noises Tachibana makes than listening to one more list of how he’s the most amazing, gorgeous person to ever cross Rin’s path.”

 

Haru hums in agreement before getting stuck on one thing. “Expiration date?”

 

“We’re all going to uni, we’ll meet tons of new people, and Rin is gonna be thousands of kilometers away from Tokyo for at least one whole school year, if not longer. They should just punch their tough shit cards and move on.” Sousuke gestures. “It sucks but...”

 

“They’ll make it work. Rin won’t give up that easily and Makoto cares too much to not make it a priority.”

 

“It’s a lot of hard work, Nanase.”

 

“Don’t ‘Nanase’ me, Yamazaki. They’re both hard workers. Makoto can deal with a lot if it’s important to him and I can’t believe you think Rin the romantic would give up on love.” Sousuke might not know Makoto all that well, but it’s like he barely even knows his own best friend. 

 

Sousuke’s face takes on an aggravated expression, like he’s frustrated that Haru isn’t understanding him. “I don’t want them to fail. But we’re young and don’t need to be chained to someone else, when we all have dreams and futures we’re trying to accomplish. We’re all basically from the same small fishing town, but are going to be in huge cities with tons more people. Why limit ourselves? If it’s meant to be, then once Rin comes back, it’ll work then for them.”

 

Haru doesn’t want to bicker about Rin and Makoto, especially because this isn’t their business, but he can't seem to let this go. More frustratingly, he's not entirely sure when or how Sousuke's opinions began to matter to him. “But why wait if they’ve found it?”

 

“Who’s to say they have?” Sousuke retorts stubbornly.

 

“ _They_ say they have.” Haru wants to shake him. He can’t believe there’s someone who would be fine seeing Rin and Makoto throw in the towel, and he really can’t believe that someone is Sousuke.

 

“Tch, that’s just because they haven’t left here yet. Listen, if they’re happy, and this is what they want, they won’t have a bigger supporter than me. I’ll even help you dry Makoto’s tears for him when he hasn’t seen Rin in person for five straight months. I just think they’re being short-sighted.” Haru pictures Makoto sandwiched between them, upset at being a nuisance and tired of living with loneliness, both of them working together to soothe chronic distress.

 

Haru doesn’t want to linger on the fact that Sousuke might be right, that the following year at least could easily be filled with more emotional downs than ups for Rin and Makoto. He still thinks they’re making the right choice to try if it's what they both want. “So you wouldn’t stay with someone you started dating in high school, even if it felt perfect, just because something more perfect could be waiting in Tokyo?”

 

“I don’t know. It’d be better if that person was coming to Tokyo with me,” admits Sousuke, finally sounding a little uncertain. Haru thinks it might be the very first time he's heard the other express doubt in his own convictions.

 

Haru pounces, desperately wanting to make his point. He probably should have exerted this much effort during that one class last year in which he was forced to take part in a team debate. However, arguing for stricter fishing regulations for no purpose other than to get a grade and experience formulating an argument didn't make him feel anything. This matters. Plus, Sousuke's take on a committed long-distance relationship irritates him. “But attaching yourself to someone in high school is short-sighted, you said. What does it matter if you both end up in the same city? You’re still not expanding your world of potential partners beyond this fishing village.”

 

Sousuke stops walking to glare at Haru, who stares back in defiance, arms crossed. Silence fills the air between them for a period of time probably bordering on uncomfortable for anyone who isn’t either of the two of them. Finally Sousuke huffs out a sigh. “You’re right.”

 

“What?” Haru lets his arms drop in genuine surprise. If jaws actually hit the ground, he’s sure that’s where his is right now. 

 

One healthy, burly shoulder lifts in resignation. “You’re right. It’s not any different. If you and I started dating right now, I wouldn’t think twice about keeping it going because I know we’re both headed to the same city.”

 

“Oh.” Haru should say something else, but his head is filled with unfamiliar, but not entirely unwelcome, images of he and Sousuke studying in a cramped flat, which morphs into images of them making out in a cramped flat, studying long forgotten. He wonders if it would lead to him putting his hand down the back of Sousuke's pants. Without meaning to, his gaze drops below Sousuke's waist, considering, before his eyes guiltily snap back up when Sousuke keeps the conversation flowing.

 

“I think I just worry that Rin will spend so much time working on maintaining a relationship he’ll forget why he’s in Sydney in the first place, and-”

 

Haru interrupts, yet again mystified at how little credit Sousuke seems to give his best friend. “I think you’re selling him a little short.”

 

“ _And_ , let me finish, I want Rin to be happy and successful this time in Australia. I think about seeing Makoto unhappy, and I just think it’ll be harder than they think. I don’t really want to see either of them struggling. Plus,” mumbles Sousuke in such a low voice Haru instinctively leans forward slightly. “You’re gonna have to help him get through the days that are too lonely for him to deal with on his own and I don’t really want to see you having to suffer either.” 

 

“You think about us, me and Makoto?”

 

“Well,” begins Sousuke, one hand rubbing at his flushing neck. “I thought we would still be friendly once we’re all out there. Together. I mean, there’ll be new people but it’d be nice to still see you guys. I mean, you’re Rin’s friends, so...”

 

Haru lifts an eyebrow, hating to let a teasing moment pass by. “Just Rin’s friends? And what happened to meeting new people in the vast new tundra that is Tokyo?”

 

“When I said that, I was talking about dating, Haru.”

 

“‘Dating Haru’? You want to date me?” He smirks and turns his head towards the water, allowing his companion a moment to formulate a comeback to toss back at him, thoroughly enjoying their banter, wanting it to continue, not particularly wanting to finish their walk to the restaurant with only his own thoughts. After a few steps in silence, Haru stops and turns to Sousuke, who is no longer beside him. He turns around and sees him standing still, hands clenched by his sides, gazing out at the sea. He retraces his steps and reaches out to touch one of the large fists. “Sousuke.”

 

“I’m an even bigger idiot than Rin.” At the barely audible murmured words, Haru maneuvers his head in an attempt to force eye contact; he wants to see Sousuke right now, wants to read what’s flickering across his expression. “Would you want me to date you, Haru?”

 

Haru rears back and pulls his hand back towards himself, breaking their brief contact. He’s scratched the surface of Tokyo already with Makoto, and regrettably Kisumi, apartment searching and sight-seeing, but he considers exploring the city in a less platonic and utilitarian way, with someone who is both familiar and yet mostly a mystery to Haru. Though their ceasefire is still a fledgling, he knows Sousuke is kind and big-hearted and loyal; Rin wouldn’t be steadfast friends with someone who wasn’t all those things and more, Makoto also recently vouching for his character. Haru lets the images of studying and non-studying again flit through his mind and he’s filled with a tingling in his gut like he used to get when he’d beg his mother to let him ride his bike down the really tall hill by the park. He wonders what kind of noises Sousuke makes that Haru could coax out of him, and then wonders what kind of things Sousuke might do to make _him_ make noises he’s never made. He feels the back of his neck get warm, sure that it now bears a slight but noticeable pink flush.

 

Haru reaches forward to uncurl a fist and feels the large, strong hand in his, sees it's lightly tanned with long fingers. He lets his gaze roam up past broad shoulders and a confident jaw to thoughtful teal eyes and an eyebrow cocked in amusement. “See something you like, Nanase?”

 

Sousuke has dealt with far too much disappointment over the last year from everything Haru has heard and seen, and he is slightly startled to realize he would never want to add to that again, knowing he inadvertently has before with his indecision. A tiny sliver of protectiveness wiggles its way through Haru. He squeezes the hand he’s holding tentatively, playfully. “Yes to your first question." 

 

Shoulders drop in relief as Souskuke tilts his head and pushes his luck. "And to the second?"

 

Haru's mouth curves into a slight smile. "Yes. You.”

 

**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was Rin and Makoto scheming to get both Sousuke and Haru to stay back at ISCR after the party too subtle? I hope not because technically that was the prompt lol. (｡ >艸<)


End file.
